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THE 

WORLD WAR 

FOUR HORSES OF REVELATION 



Copyright 1918 
by F. M. Messenger 



THE 

WORLD WAR 

FOUR HORSES OF REVELATION 



Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear tha 
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are 
written therein: for the time is a hand. — Rev. 1:3. 



By F. M. MESSENGER 

i/ 

* 




When the trump of the great arch-angel 
Its mighty tones shall sound 
The end of the world proclaiming 
Shall pierce the depths profound. 

— Fannie Crosby. 



Press of 

MESSENGER PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Chicago, Illinois. 






DEDICATION 
To those who value Scripture more 
than tradition, who relish facts more 
than fiction; in a word, who are vjilling 
for tilth's sake to waive all precon- 
ceived ideas concerning the Revelation 
of Jesus Christ, pending a candid peru- 
sal of these pages, this book is respect- 
fully dedicated. 

The Author. 



DcC -9 1918 
)CI.A506845 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 
CHAPTER I 

BREAKING OF THE SEALS 

The Sealed Roll. The Lost Inheritance. The White 
Horse. The Red Horse. The Great Sword. 

CHAPTER II 

BREAKING OF THE SEALS CONTINUED 

The Black Horse. Food Control and Price Fixing. The 
Pale Horse. Famine and Pestilence — Russia. 

CHAPTER III 

BREAKING OF THE SEALS CONTINUED 

The Souls Under the Altar. Prayer for Vengeance. 
Prerapture Tribulation. The Saints Will Not Escape. 

CHAPTER IV 

BREAKING OF THE SEALS CONTINUED 

Sixth Seal Not Yet Broken. The Great Shaking. Four 
Angels — Four Corners of the Earth. The Sealing. The 
Sealed. Its Significance. 

CHAPTER V 

THE SEVENTH SEAL, THE LITTLE BOOK. THE TWO WITNESSES 

The Seven Trumpets, Their Significance. The Little 
Book. Measuring the Temple. The Two Witnesses. 

CHAPTER VI 

THE RAPTURE OF THE BRIDE 

The Seventh Trumpet. The Sun-Clad Woman. The Man 
Child. The Flight into the Wilderness. The War in 
Heaven. 

CHAPTER VII 

THE ANTICHRIST 

His Heads, His Ten Horns, His Description, His Wounded 
Head. Kaiser Not the Antichrist. Antichrist's John the 
Baptist. 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE FALSE PROPHET 

The Two-Horned Beast. Anti-Holy Ghost. The Beast's 
Image. The Moving Picture. The Mark of the Beast. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE VIALS OF WRATH 

Sealing the 144,000. Nature of the Sealing. The Angel 
Messages. The Unclean Spirits. Bathing Beach at Pots- 
dam. Nature's Upheavel. 

CHAPTER X 

THE SCARLET WOMAN 

The Bride of Christ. The Mother of Harlots. Antichrist 
Not the Pope. The Woman, the Apostasy. Flirtation With 
the Ten Kings. 

CHAPTER XI 

BABYLON 

The Great Commercial Center. She Wins the World. Her 
Fall. Her Sudden Destruction. 

CHAPTER XII 

CHRIST'S KINGDOM AND THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB 

Not the Leavening of Existing Governments. A New 
Order of Thmgs. Who Is the Bride? Ten Virgins. 
CHAPTER XIII 

BATTLE OF GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE MILLENNIUM 

Some Difficulties That Confront Us. The Dragon Dis- 
posed Of. The Order in Writing Revelation. The Hand- 
writing On the Wall. 



Preface 

The object of this book is to consider what has 
been written in the book of Revelation concerning 
the end of this age, compare with it present events, 
and to locate — if possible — our present place in 
prophecy. If we can do this, we should be able to 
forecast with some degree of accuracy what is in 
store for us in the near future. 

Students of prophecy and commentators on Rev- 
elation have followed different plans of interpre- 
tation and have worked towards various objectives, 
until we have Post and Premillennialists, Preterists 
and Futurists, Symbolists and Literalists, with 
hardly two of any kind agreeing in details and only 
here and there agreeing in essentials. 

These varied methods of interpretation, arrive 
at such a variety of conclusions, that they leave the 
reader in a mental state so confused and befuddled 
he would be better equipped to come empty handed 
with mind unhampered to the unadulterated word 
of God. 

In stating these facts we are criticising no one. 
Many able and conscientious men have exhausted 
their energies and burned the midnight oil in an 
honest endeavor to unravel Old Testament prophecy 
and to explain the book of Revelation. This writer 
is not assuming a better fitness, a superior intelli- 
gence, or a more honest endeavor than many of 



these good men; on the contrary, he feels himself 
to be like a child learning the alphabet, standing 
beside a university professor, when he compares his 
own fitness with the fitness of these talented and 
able men; but he does claim that any honest and 
industrious student who is a careful observer stands 
on a vantage ground today which is so superior to 
that occupied by the writers and commentators re- 
ferred to, and having the facts already occurring 
before him, it forms a better basis as a starting 
point; therefore he can proceed more easily to un- 
tangle the skein of the future. 

The writer lays no claim to being a prophet or 
that the writings of this book are inspired. Access 
to the Scriptures come in three ways; First, by a 
full inspiration, which is inherent only in the God- 
head, (although given in a remarkable degree to 
the prophets and apostles) ; Second, by direct il- 
lumination which has been received — some in a 
fuller, others in a lesser degree — by holy men and 
women in all ages. Third, by comparing Scripture 
with Scripture and proving each theory by the 
Word. Where the last two methods can be used, 
one may dig quite deeply into the word of truth — 
if careful and painstaking — with considerable suc- 
cess. The writer has been a student of the Bible 
for twenty-five years and has been blessed in some 
measure by the second method while employing the 
third, but in forming conclusions he has occasion- 
ally had to retrace his steps and correct errors 
which later light and developments made clear to 
him. 



For many years the book of Revelation, studied 
with the assistance of the writings of others, has 
been far from clear to this writer's mind ; but these 
unusual occurrences and rapid developments in 
world affairs, has driven him to his Bible and 
his knees in most earnest study. The news- 
papers and the Bible seem to run nearly par- 
allel, or so much so that we have felt impelled to 
compare their statements and harmonize their 
meaning where such harmony was clear and reason- 
able. 

Among the writings which have been of value, 
none have assisted us to so great an extent as the 
three volumes on the Apocalypse by Joseph A. Seiss, 
written in 1865. We believe that his plan of inter- 
pretation is substantially correct, that his knowledge 
of the Word of God together with his exhaustive re- 
search into the writings of others, his eminent 
scholarship and evident piety, make him a teacher 
whose opinions should be greatly respected and his 
work criticised with the greatest caution. 

Mr. Seiss in his day was a futurist, to which we 
give unqualified assent. How any person can con- 
sistently teach that these most striking things 
enumerated under the seven seals and trumpets 
transpired many years ago, is beyond our con- 
ception. 

Mr. Seiss considered the book of Revelation not 
simply a revelation of a chain of events to transpire 
at stated intervals and in a given way; but he con- 
sidered the book just what it announces itself to 
be, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ,'* or as Mr. Seiss 



puts it, "the revealment, the appearing, or making 
manifest the appearing, of Jesus Christ." This ap- 
pearing — or second coming of Jesus Christ — does 
carry with it a chain of events the most stupendous 
that this world will ever witness, but they are only 
a part of and contingent to the appearing, or reveal- 
ment, or the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

These things were shown to John who was "in 
the Spirit on the Lord's day." Here again Mr. 
Seiss departs from the formulated opinions of most 
other writers; he considers this "Lord's Day," the 
day or period (not a 24-hour period) in which 
Jesus will bring judgment on the world, close up 
the present dispensation, and inaugurate His reign 
with His Bride, of a thousand years on earth. 

This will show to the reader the plan upon which 
we shall proceed to investigate such parts of this 
wonderful book as we feel we are able to unravel 
after much study and meditation. 

With these remarks we shall pass — except with 
occasional reference — the epistles to the seven 
churches, simply by saying that it is a pretty well 
accepted belief that these epistles represent seven 
successive periods of the history of the church from 
its foundation to its close; and we feel that a care- 
ful study of such history will convince an un- 
biased mind that the church has been in the Laode- 
cean period for some years. We will pass over this 
interesting portion on which so much could be said 
and launch at once into what seems to concern us 
more closely just now. 



Let it be understood that this is not an un- 
abridged commentary on the Revelation ;. on the con- 
trary, much matter will be passed without comment. 
But such parts as seem urgently necessary to en- 
lighten us on present happenings and to prepare us 
for the proper consideration of future events which 
will follow, we will endeavor to explain as clearly 
and as fully as our present illumination and our 
space affords. 

We are living in momentous and startling times. 
The Christian should locate himself in his experi- 
ence, and in his day and generation. The wise will 
do so. "None of the wicked shall understand, but 
the wise shall understand." The wise had oil when 
the midnight cry was made, but the foolish had 
run out of oil and were left. 

May the Lord help us to proceed with care, cau- 
tion, and courage, and with a proper conception of 
these important truths, enabling us to make them 
clear one by one as we meet them. 

Chicago, 111., 1918. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Roll and Breaking the Seals. 

The theme of the fourth chapter of Revelation 
embodies a scene in heaven. It introduces a new 
vision. John, in the spirit, is transferred from 
Patmos to heaven and is made somewhat familiar 
with his new surroundings preparatory for what is 
to follow. 

Continuing the vision, chapter five introduces a 
book, or more properly a roll, written within and on 
the backside, or outside. This roll was sealed with 
seven seals, and no one but the Lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world was found worthy — or 
able — to open it. 

Much speculation has been indulged in concern- 
ing this sealed book. Mr. Seiss says it represents 
the title deed to our lost inheritance which was for- 
feited in the fall of our first parents. Under the 
old dispensation the family inheritance could not 
be sold outside the family or conveyed to any 
other than the legal heir in succession; it could be 
hypothecated, or as we might say, "put in pawn" 
until such time as a legal heir was able to redeem 
and restore it to its proper line of legatees. See 
Ruth 4th chapter, and Jeremiah 32:6-16. The 
property might pass through other hands for sev- 
eral generations before a legal heir could redeem 
it; but when such heir did arise, the law demanded 
that it should be restored. 



14 THE WORLD WAR 

In the case before us, no one was found worthy 
— or able — to restore this alienated inheritance but 
the Lamb of God, the Redeemer of mankind. His 
is the only name given under heaven. He only was 
able to pay the price, break the seals, and set the 
machinery of judgment and redemption in motion. 
He told His disciples, "When these things begin to 
come to pass, (doubtless the things accompanying 
the breaking of these seals) then look up, and lift 
up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh." 
Luke 21:28. 

Beginning the sixth chapter, the first seal is 
broken and a white horse with rider is let loose. 
This rider wears a crown and carries a drawn bow. 
Mr. Seiss says, **It has been a common error to re- 
gard this as a symbol of the success of a preached 
Gospel. The progress of truth is indeed included 
* * * * but history furnishes nothing that can be 
set down as the fulfilment of this prophetic pic- 
ture." We agree with Mr. Seiss. 

The Gospel as preached since pentecost never 
has been and never will be triumphant in the sense 
of a world conquering Gospel ; the seven epistles to 
the churches. Rev. 2nd and 3rd chapters, supple- 
mented by church history confirm this assertion; 
it is mostly rejected and always has been, while this 
rider went forth conquering and to conquer. The 
Gospel has always been preached in humiliation, its 
conquests have never been by force. This rider 
ushers in a new policy ; crowned like a king. He pre- 
cedes — and doubtless directs — a trio of other riders 



THE WORLD WAR 15 

whose weapons are war, famine, pestilence, and 
revolution, together with the upheaval of nature's 
forces ; following one upon another with accelerated 
force conquering in the successive seals, woes and 
trumpets, and to conquer — complete conquest — in 
the final winding up of this age. 

The horse is white, symbol of righteousness, 
teaching us that despite the horrors accompanying 
them and the severity of the judgments that follow, 
''the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous 
altogether.** Psalms 19:9. 

We believe that this seal has been broken, that 
the white horse and its rider are loose, that it does 
not symbolize a distinct epoch or era of church 
history by itself, but embodies the whole chain of 
circumstances from its introduction to the introduc- 
tion of the millennium. 

The second seal was opened "and there went out 
another horse that was red: and power was given 
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, 
and that they should kill one another: and there 
was given unto him a great sword." Most com- 
mentators have agreed that this horse and rider 
symbolizes great wars, but just their nature, or 
where located either in point of time or geographic- 
ally, they have not agreed. If we read the Lord's 
instructions regarding the end of this age it will 
help us. In answer to the question, "what shall be 
the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world 
(age) ," He said, "ye shall hear of wars and rumors 
of wars: * * * * but the end is not yet." This 



16 THE WORLD WAR 

writer can remember the civil war of the United 
States, the Franco-Prussian war, the Spanish- 
American war, the Chinese-Japanese, and the Rus- 
so-Japanese wars, the Boer war and others — "wars 
and rumors of wars''— these were all local, none of 
them could have answered to the breaking of this 
second seal, but read on, "but the end is not yet, 
FOR — something vastly greater, something nearly 
universal— nation shall rise against nation, and 
kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be fam- 
ines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse 
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." 
The revised and American versions properly say- 
"the beginning of travail.'' The beginning of sor- 
rows, or travail pains contained in these successive 
seals of the present time, (1918) the beginning of 
breaking in pieces by the stone cut out of the moun- 
tain without hands, of "all these kingdoms," Dan. 
2 :44. This seal without doubt was broken and the 
red horse and rider let loose in the summer of 1914. 
He has power to take peace from the earth. 
Has it happened? if you think not wait a little 
longer. "There was given to him a great sword." 
The sword is the badge of authority by which 
armies are governed and directed ; we speak of con- 
quering by the sword, we mean of course by the 
munitions of war. Has there ever been a greater 
sword invented and wielded than in this greatest 
of all wars? do we look for a greater than the one 
now employed ? As we write the big German drive 
is on; the Allies have been pushed back over quite 



THE WORLD WAR 17 

an area, but not without a fearful sacrifice of life 
by the Germans. (One paper estimates the loss of 
life on the German side to have been over 75,000 
men per day, meaning over a half million men in 
one week) ; can we realize it? — and the world is 
wondering over a big gun which it is said is throw- 
ing huge shells for a distance of 75 miles and 
dropping them into Paris, — shall we look for big- 
ger guns and greater armies — a greater sword? 

Since writing the above — five months ago — there 
has been a great reversal in the "fortunes of war," 
the allies having pushed the Germans back to the 
old Hindenburg line, retaking a large area of French 
soil, and reports of continued success of our arms 
are constantly coming in. Great victories for the 
allied forces are taking place daily on other of the 
battle fronts, and this morning's paper (Sept. 23rd) 
announces a victory of great importance in Pales- 
tine, Nazareth having been wrested from the Turks 
with a large capture of Turkish prisoners. We 
give below a reduced facsimilie of the heading in the 
Chicago Daily Tribune of that date: 



^ Q;Ij« dljimijor ., glallir 0;r Jimm, ffM 



WIN NAZARETH; BAG 18,000 

The perfection of war machinery, machine guns, 
huge tanks, aircraft and submarines together with 
the science with which armies are mustered into 
service and handled in their maneuvers, attacks and 
counter-attacks, fairly stagger the imagination of 
the layman these days; he can hardly comprehend 




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it. There was given to him — 
this red horse rider let loose 
in the breaking of the second 
seal— a GREAT SWORD. 
Compare this with anything 
that has ever heretofore been 
known; yea, measure its im- 
mensity if you can with any 
war that has ever been 
known; and ask yourself if 
the science and equipment 
now in use will answer to the 
fulfilment of this GREAT 
SWORD. 

We give here a graphic 
description of this great 
sword, showing the estimated 
number of men under arms 
in this war compared with 
the American civil war, the 
largest mobilization of forces 
under arms in any war in 
history up to the outbreak of 
the present world war. 

This contrast is surprising 
but here are the facts and we 
hardly see how a reasonable 
mind can ignore this striking 
suggestion without giving it 
serious consideration. 

This sword is still growing, 
we clipped the following from 
the Chicago Daily Tribune of 
Sept. 18, 1918: 



THE WORLD WAR 19 

ARMY OF 98 DIVISIONS 

The war department submitted to congress esti- 
mates for an additional appropriation of $7,347,- 
000,000 for the organization and equipment of nine- 
ty-eight divisions of troops, the largest item being 
$3,585,000,000 for additional ordnance. 

"Power was given to him to take peace from the 
earth." This may not — probably will not — be con- 
fined solely to military operations; the perilous 




The PRINCE of PEACE 

times spoken of in 2nd Tim. 2 :3, are upon us and 
although a cessation of hostilities among the war- 
ring nations may come, in all likelihood internal dis- 
sensions and revolutions will occur. Russia is now 
completely demoralized, Germany is controlling an 



20 THE WORLD WAR 

internal volcano with an iron hand, dissatisfaction 
and unrest are everywhere. He was given power 
to take peace from the earth and we fail to find in 
prophecy any place where it is restored again until 
the Prince of Peace sets up His reign. Respites 
there will be as we shall show farther on, periods 
of quiet when the world will again cry peace, but 
real peace will never return until an entirely dif- 
ferent order of things is set up. 



CHAPTER II. 
Breaking the Seals Continued. 

The third seal opens; a black horse goes forth; 
and he that sat upon him has a pair of balances m 
his hand; and John heard a voice in the midst of 
the four living creatures say, *'a measure of wheat 
for a penny and three measures of barley for a 
penny, and see that thou hurt not the oil and the 
wine." 

Intelligent commentators— and there are very 
many of them who agree here — ^tell us that as the 
red horse represented wars, the black horse and 
rider represents famine which is so certain to fol- 
low great wars. Doubtless this is correct as far 
as it goes, but this horse and rider not only repre- 
sent the shortage in foodstuffs ; they represent the 
attempt of the governing forces to control the con- 
sumption and prevent the price raising on the neces- 
saries of life. We know only the beginning of what 
food control and price fixing means in the United 
States — we should go to foreign countries to see it 
enforced to its fullest extent. We notice that wheat 
— the finer better quality of food — is not only 
spoken of, but barley— a coarser, less desirable 
quality — is mentioned ; not only so, but the price is 
fixed, and the quantity specified ; you may only pur- 
chase a fixed quantity of the better finer quality, but 
you must take with it a certain quantity of the coar- 
ser grade, and that at a fixed price as well. Is this 
the work of the black horse rider?— without a 



22 THE WORLD WAR 

doubt. Hurt not the oil and the wine. These are 
luxuries, we do not control these, let prices soar, 
let the people use all that they can pay for, do not 
hurt, or hinder their use or their sale. 

We recently clipped from the Chicago Daily 
News, the following: 

GERMANS BUYING CHAMPAGNE 

Berlin Newspaper Says Huge Sums Are Spent For 
Luxuries 

Amsterdam, Holland, June 13. — Despite wide- 
spread distress enormous sums of money are being 
spent in Germany on luxuries and amusements, the 
Deutsche Tages Zeitung of Berlin complains. It 
says that the consumption of champagne, which 
amounted to 10,000,000 bottles a year before the war 
and dropped to less than 5,000,000 bottles in the first 
year of the war, in 1917 rose to 20,000,000 bottles, 
although the prices ranged from 300 to 400 per cent 
higher. The newspaper also points to the crowded 
theater and the great increase in betting at the race 
courses. 

Regulate the wheat and the barley, the necessar- 
ies ; and this is right ; we are offering no criticism ; 
had not this wise precaution been taken, far more 
suffering would have been experienced; but it ful- 
fils prophecy without a doubt. 

If the third seal is not broken, the rider on the 
black horse abroad now, fixing prices, controlling 
consumption, inspecting the practice of dealers, 
the store rooms and coal bins of consumers, guard- 
ing the necessaries of life from waste and specula- 
tion, — what better fulfilment of this horse and rider 
may we expect? This horse and its rider — a se- 
quence to the red horse and rider — is without rea* 



THE WORLD WAR 23 

sonable doubt now abroad and only God Himself 
knows when he will finish his course. 

The fourth seal is broken; and a pale horse, 
meaning a ghastly, ghostly, pale green phantom 
horse, is let loose. He that sat on him was "Death" 
and Hell (Hades) followed after. Hades since 
Christ's resurrection and ascension, has been the 
abode of the spirits of the wicked dead. No saint 
of God since pentecost — when the church was built, 
or organized — has ever gone to Hades. Christ prom- 
ised that the gates of hades should never prevail 
against His church. Matt. 16:18.* 

Power was given to this rider over a fourth part 
of the earth "to kill with the sword, (war) and with 
hunger, (famine) and with death, (pestilence, R. 
V.) and with the beasts of the earth.'* 

We have dealt with the "Sword" in connection 
with the second seal ; the third seal touches the ques- 
tion of famine, but only incidentally, illustrating the 
means and precautions which are being taken as 
a preventive to shortage in foodstuffs ; but this seal 
brings to our attention the horrors of war and its 
consequent results of famine, pestilence, and the 
revolutions that will follow. Since writing this 
chapter, we clipped from the Chicago Daily Tribune 
the following, written by James Keeley, a former 
Chicago editor: 

"European Russia, this coming winter, will be the 
world's most awful graveyard. Famine is not an 
impossibility. It is a certainty. Pestilence is reap- 
ing the first crop of a gigantic harvest. According 



*Read our booklet, "Where Are the Dead: or, Future 
Rewards and Punishments." 



24 THE WORLD WAR 

to my information from a quarter to one-third of the 
inhabitants must die before next summer. 

"Productive labor has been annihiliated and all 
financial system has vanished. Debts have been re- 
pudiated, banks abolisher', and the gold reserve of 
the nation largely stolen." 

Following pestilence comes "the beasts of the 
earth." Mr. Seiss says that he believes these were lit- 
erally wild beasts, but this we very much doubt. Mr. 
Seiss teaches that the beasts which were seen com- 
ing up out of the sea and out of the earth in Rev. 
13th chapter, were human beings. The original 
word in the Greek, which has been used both here 
and in the 13th chapter, is a different word than 
that which has been translated "beasts** in other 
places; it signifies most ferocious wild animals. 
With relation to the 13th chapter Mr. Seiss points 
out this distinction and tells us that human beings, 
incited to mob violence and moved to persecute their 
fellow men, are more vicious, will devise ways far 
more barbarous to torment their victims, than wild 
beasts; and we see no reason why this is not the 
sense in this, as well as in the 13th chapter ; in other 
words, we believe it means wild mobs let loose. 

We already see such things in Russia, being 
barely held in check in other nations, and we feel 
the rumblings of anarchy and the I. W. W.'s in 
our OAvn fair land. This horse and rider — like the 
wonderful harvesting machines used in these days, 
which cut the standing grain, thresh, winnow and 
gather it into bags, — follows this destruction of 
human life in its different forms of war, famine, 



THE WORLD WAR 25 

pestilence and mob violence, gathering in the souls 
for Hades. 

We believe that four seals have already been 
broken, that these horses are abroad. Four is the 
human number, or earthly number, the four points 
of the compass, the four seasons, etc. ; four is under- 
stood to stand for the earthly number, three for the 
divine, and the two, four and three — seven — ^for the 
union of the human and the Divine, making the per- 
fect, or full number; hence we have the seals and 
the trumpets in the complete number, seven. 

God told Daniel, "Go thy way, Daniel; for tho 
words are closed up and sealed till the time of the 
end." The time of the end has come, not the end, 
but the time of the end. God also told Daniel, "The 
wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked 
shall understand; but the wise shall understand.'* 
Do we show wisdom to sound the old threadbare 
theory that the Revelation is a sealed book and none 
ever have, or ever will understand it? In view of 
the unparalelled things which are occurring with al- 
most every tick of the clock, is it not wisdom to read 
and observe and pray and expect that God will help 
us and not leave us in darkness? Of one thing are 
we certain — if only the wise shall understand and 
we do not understand — then we are not only un- 
wise, but we will meet the fate of the five foolish 
Virgins. Matt., 25th chapter. 

We claim no superior wisdom, but it seems to 
this writer that the first four seals are so clearly 
opened and operative now, at this present time, 



26 THE WORLD WAR 

April 1st, 1918, that those cannot be reckoned 
among the wise who fail to recognize these facts. 

The next three seals representing the divine 
number will doubtless present manifestations of a 
power outside of, or independent of humanity, and 
so John's description would seem to indicate, for 
so far as we are able to see, they are yet in the 
future and, therefore, more obscure than those we 
have already considered. We admit that we must 
now enter more on speculative ground than here- 
tofore. We have already denied any claim to in- 
spiration or to superior wisdom in treating these 
subjects; but with a prayerful consideration of the 
matters before us, we hope to at least give a reason- 
able forecast of the situation ahead. If we are to 
take these matters as nearly literal as the Scrip- 
tures will admit — and I see no reason why we should 
not, for if the visions of the seer were only deep 
blind symbols, one may have one mode of interpre- 
tation and another a different one, each with as 
much consistency as the other — ^then we may look 
for some wonderful and fearful disturbances in the 
fabric of nature in the near future. Whatever they 
do stand for, of one thing we feel quite certain, they 
forebode something the most startling of its kind 
that this world ever witnessed, which will carry 
greater consternation and horror to the minds and 
hearts of the inhabitants of the world than any of 
the things connected with this war or its conse- 
quences have done. With these comments, we close 
this chapter, asking God's guidance as we proceed. 



CHAPTER III. 

Breaking the Seals Continued. 

The breaking of the fifth seal presents a scene 
in heaven, souls of martyred saints pleading with 
God for vengeance. 

We must not complicate matters by supposing 
that this scene will transpire in connection with 
other events which are to occur in the breaking of 
the seals to follow or the sounding of the seven 
trumpets ; we must not suppose that these are saints 
who are martyred after the rapture of the Bride. 
This is the fifth seal, it is in its proper place, God 
has not so complicated this book of Revelation as 
man seems to think, and this writer is persuaded 
that the simplest and most natural manner of in- 
terpretation that will bear comparison with other 
portions of Scripture is the one which will prove to 
be the clearest and nearest correct in the under- 
standing of this wonderful portion of God's word. 

These souls were under the altar — disembodied 
— ^having individuality and conscious existence sep- 
arate from their bodies. Mr. Seiss says, "That 
state which ensues as a result of corporeal death." 
This evidences the fact so often made clear in God's 
word, that the soul does not cease a conscious exist- 
ence through the death of the body. 

This altar was the heavenly, from which the 
earthly one was patterned. Seiss tells us, "the law 



28 THE WORLD WAR 

commanded the officiating priest to pour all the 
blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of 
the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tab- 
ernacle of the congregation. Lev. 4 :7. I have my- 
self stood in the opening under the rock, on which 
this altar had its place, and stamped my foot on the 
marble slab which closes the mouth of the vast re- 
ceptacle and satisfied myself from the detonations 
that the excavated space is very deep and large. 
And as the life of the animal was in the blood, this 
vast subterranean cavity was, naturally enough, re- 
garded as the receptacle of the lives of the victims 
which were slain." 

Why Mr. Seiss and other writers think it is 
necessary to await a horde of martyrs who should 
be slain during the tribulation period either before 
or after the rapture, to supply souls enough for this 
company is incomprehensible. It is absolutely un- 
necessary; hasn't the world turned out martyrs 
enough in the ages past to form a praying band in 
heaven for this occasion? And are they not en- 
joined to rest for a little season, until their fellow- 
servants also and their brethren (Israelites and 
Gentiles) that should be killed as they were, should 
be fulfilled? It seems to us that the statement of 
the vision with its attending information makes it 
clear enough that this praying band consisted of 
martyrs who had sacrificed their lives down through 
the ages prior to the Laodecean period of the 
church. 

But why this prayer injected here? or why is it 



THE WORLD WAR 29 

mentioned here if it does take place? God seems 
to have ordained that His great work in connection 
with the human family is to be preceded and ac- 
companied with prayer. The coming of Christ's 
kingdom was to be interceded for by the saints 
throughout the age. Christ Himself incorporated 
this request into what we call the Lord's prayer, 
(Thy kingdom come) . How can people who disbe- 
lieve in the coming reign of Christ on earth, con- 
sistently offer this prayer? We repeat, God seems 
to have ordained that earnest prayer should accom- 
pany the works of His hands. 

In the 18th chapter of Luke's C'ospel the Lord 
presents the parable of the importunate widow and 
the unjust judge. The widow's prayer is for retrib- 
utive justice; it is introduced in a discourse on the 
Lord's second coming. He refers to God's own 
elect who cry "day and night" unto Him for venge- 
ance, asking the question, "and shall not God avenge 
His own elect * * * * though He bear long with them 
(or though He is long-suffering on their behalf) ? I 
tell you that He will avenge them speedily; never- 
theless, when the son of man cometh, shall he find 
faith on the earth?" Do you get the thought? If 
this unjust judge will avenge this widow, will not 
a just judge — God — avenge His own elect. His mar- 
tyred saints? Yet notwithstanding His repeated 
assurances, when the time comes, when the tribu- 
lation gets hot and it becomes most popular to go 
with the world excluding God and holy things out 
of your life, meaning present ease and future dam- 



30 THE WORLD WAR 

nation, or present tests and hardship with future 
joy and peace; will He find faith on the earth? 

This seal is one of the spokes in the wheel of 
God's judgments. The martyrs of past ages — for 
whom He has borne long and been long-suffering in 
their behalf — are praying in heaven now for God's 
vengeance to be poured out on a wicked world, and 
God is breaking the seals of judgment. We earn- 
estly pray for God's mercy on us, we earnestly en- 
treat that this fearful war may cease, but until the 
full measure has been visited on the nations we are 
interceding against the prayers of martyred saints 
in heaven. 

We are glad that our own country has not 
entered so fully in the assaults upon God's word as 
our enemies have done, that she stands less guilty 
before God of many of the heinous sins of the world 
than they, in fact that she has stood rather the 
champion of truth and liberty; yet it is true that 
her hands are not entirely unstained with martyr's 
blood. Some of our big headed, but small souled 
theologians have tried to ape German higher criti- 
cism and infidelity, although we have not been lead- 
ers in these wicked and diabolical things. We may 
pray that God will temper His judgments with all 
the mercy possible; but God's martyred saints are 
praying for vengeance, and Jesus Himself has told 
us that it would certainly be meted out. Let us be 
true to our country in her time of peril ; let us pray 
in humble submission for our nation ; but let us ex- 
pect that God, while speaking to the nations, will 



THE WORLD WAR 31 

be true to the last letter of every promise that He 
has ever made. This seal is one of the things that 
are connected directly with God's judgments, accom- 
panying, and in some measure without doubt, pre- 
cipitating the woes that are to follow. 

There still remains a time of persecution and 
martyrdom after the breaking of the seals. An 
idea has gained considerable ground that the saints 
of the rapture are to be taken before any tribula- 
tion takes place, that they will escape all the trials 
and sorrows that are coming upon the world. Mr. 
Seiss was so imbued with this idea that he manu- 
factured a separate rapture for a special few pre- 
ferred saints. We are surprised at this, for an in- 
telligent understanding of the many promises of 
deliverance does not necessitate such a conclusion; 
and there is nothing in either the gospels or the 
Revelation that would warrant such an assumption. 

Mr. Seiss, to provide an escape for these favored 
saints, finds a rapture in the fourth chapter of Rev- 
elation where the voice speaks saying, "come up 
hither." There is nothing said or inferred that this 
invitation was intended for any one but John him- 
self, and there is no evidence that John's body was 
taken to heaven on that occasion ; in fact the whole 
inference is that John being "in the spirit" was 
transferred in the spirit, back and forth from earth 
to heaven accordingly as the scenes were shifted by 
the necessities of the panorama, and it is a matter 
of gravest doubt that his body moved in the slight- 



32 THE WORLD WAR 

est degree from the particular spot on Patmos 
where the vision began and ended. 

We have great confidence in Mr. Seiss' grasp of 
the deep things of Revelation, but here we must 
differ with him, for his theory is untenable, un- 
necessary, and wrong, for without doubt four of the 
seals have already been broken and no rapture has 
occurred. The scriptural place for the rapture is 
after the sounding of the seventh trumpet. 

During this prerapture period the tribulation 
affects the unsaved and the ungodly; and doubtless 
these tribulations will greatly increase; but the 
saints will escape except a spirit of persecution 
should arise. The question may be asked, how will 
they escape? And we answer, as the three Hebrew 
children escaped the fire and Daniel the lions — ^by 
faith. The children of Israel in Egypt, were kept 
from the plagues, while the Egyptians suffered ex- 
tremely ; even the death angel could not enter where 
the blood was on the door post. 

This will be a time when hearts must be stout, 
faith in God must be real, the spirit of martyrdom 
will be present. It is the testing time of the saints, 
the sifting, the winnowing process. **He will 
thoroughly purge his floor." Matt. 3:12. 'The 
ungodly will not stand." Ps. 1:5; none but the 
courageous, the faithful, the real manly ones, those 
who, regardless of sex, possess true manhood. Pre- 
sumption will totter and fall, camouflage religion 
will accept anything easy and pleasant that is of- 
fered to them and the whole brood of nominal pro- 



THE WORLD WAR 33 

fessors will bow down; but the faith that will not 
bow down whether delivered or not, will have vic- 
tory. 

Do not expect to be lifted up on flowery beds of 
ease escaping the testing of the prerapture period. 

"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell; * * * and spared 
not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, 
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood 
upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the 
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned 
them with an overthrow, making them an ensample 
unto those that after should live ungodly; and de- 
livered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation 
of the wicked, * * * The Lord knoweth how to de- 
liver the Godly out of temptations (or out of the 
testings of the tribulation) and to reserve the un- 
just unto the day of judgment to be punished." 2nd 
Peter 2:5-9. 

God certainly can sort the populace over and do 
it just right — He knows how — and if you have a 
clean, courageous heart which believes God's word 
from Genesis to Revelation, you are all right. 

It seems to this writer that the way is clear thus 
far, at least four seals have been broken — probably 
five — and there has been no rapture; but we will 
find the rapture in the 12th chapter of Revelation 
after the sounding of the seventh or last trumpet. 
We see no difficulty in locating the rapture and lo- 
cating it Scripturally. 

"Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all 
sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (the sev- 
enth) for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall 
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.'* 
1st Cor. 15:51, 52. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Breaking of the Seals Continued. 

It is quite evident at this writing (July 12th, 
1918), that the sixth seal has not yet been broken, 
that the things, which are to transpire at the break- 
ing of that seal have not yet occurred. The first 
four seals are doubtless operative now. Four is 
the earth's number, and the fearful tragedies being 
enacted are the result of the four winds of heaven 
striving on the great sea (Daniel 7:2). God has 
set influences in motion working in men's minds — 
the great sea of humanity throughout the world — 
which cause insane opposition to each other. Men 
do not realize, one group thinks that it must master 
the whole world, and another group is compelled 
to meet the onslaught or submit like slaves. Not 
one realizes it, but it is God's hand working out 
His great plan in men. However, now the scene 
changes and God works direct from headquarters. 

We have already considered the fifth seal which 
has quite probably been broken and is now opera- 
tive. The sixth seal embodies wonderful disturb- 
ances in the fabric of nature such as have never 
been known. Rev 6:12-17. Reasoning from present 
conditions, we have felt quite sure of our ground 
interpreting the preceding seals; but we must now 
proceed more on the line of speculation, as we must 
handle unfulfilled prophecy. This we confess is 



THE WORLD WAR 35 

difficult and fraught with more chance for error, 
but we see no better way than to understand these 
things in as near a literal sense as their rendering 
and comparison with other Scriptures will allow. 

Earthquakes have been more or less frequent 
since the beginning of time, but some writers have 
demonstrated that they have been increasingly 
frequent and violent of late years, that the last two 
decades have witnessed more, and more violent 
quakes than any like period in the world's history; 
but what is spoken of here — "a great earthquake'* — 
is said to be in the original "a great shaking." This 
is probably the same as spoken of prophetically in 
Haggai 2 :6 and doubtless referred to in Heb 12 :26- 
28; here God promises that He will shake not 
only the earth but heaven also. 

We are taught that there are three heavens or 
divisions of the heavens, the first being the atmos- 
phere which surrounds the earth, the third, God's 
abode to which St. Paul tells us he was caught up. 
(2d Cor. 12:2) Doubtless this shaking takes place 
not only in the earth, but in the atmosphere or first 
heaven also. There was a great earthquake, the sun 
was darkened, the moon was changed, the stars fell, 
and the heavens departed as a scroll. Rev. 6:12-14. 

"But in those days after that tribulation the sun 
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the 
powers that are in heaven shall be shaken." Mark 
13:24-25. "But now hath he promised saying, yet 
once more I shake not the earth only, but also 
heaven." Heb. 12:26. 



36 THE WORLD WAR 

We are looking for a great disturbance to take 
place in the fabric of nature ; and when it comes the 
world will no longer be deceived in believing that it 
is the work of their hands, it will then be evident to 
all that it is the hand of omnipotence, and those who 
do not know and fear God, those who are not built 
upon the solid rock, will cry for the rocks and the 
mountains to fall on them, acknowledging that the 
great day of His wrath is come. Rev 6:12-17. 

We need not state dogmatically what this oc- 
currence will involve — such a declaration would 
necessitate a certain degree of speculation — ^but 
whatever it is, whatever its reality may be, it will 
carry with it all the consternation on the part of the 
people, all the horrors pictured in the prophecy; in 
fact it will carry all that the text implies, otherwise 
we must charge the inspired word with exaggera- 
tion. This we cannot do. 

Every one — except the true child of God, the 
child of faith — ^will go down in the deepest conster- 
nation under the breaking of this seal ; it will be to 
them like the handwriting on the wall. The awful 
scenes depicted here, were foretold in the old 
Testament prophecies, repeated by the Lord Jesus 
Himself, spoken of and referred to by the apostles 
in their writings and have been the theme of rugged 
Gospel preaching down through this age. Shall wg 
minimize them? Shall we flatter ourselves that they 
mean much less than they say? No, let us be warned 
in season and see to it that we are full of faith and 
relying on His promises for deliverance. 



THE WORLD WAR 37 

Under the first four seals men fail to recognize 
the hand of God, and many will be swept off their 
feet by the interest and enthusiasm of present day 
work ; they are forgetting God, but this great shak- 
ing will bring them back to their senses as never 
before. Some will turn to God; but God's word 
teaches us and past experience confirms it that com- 
paratively few who have been brought to acknowl- 
edge God in times of great stress and trouble have 
stood true after the danger was over. Few indeed 
maintain their convictions or carry out the resolu- 
tions made at such a time. 

What is needed is a rooted and grounded ex- 
perience in grace which will hold like an anchor, 
firm in faith while fearful scenes of this kind are 
being enacted. St. John says, ^'herein is our love 
made perfect (dwelling in God and God in us) that 
we may have boldness in the day of judgment." 1st 
John, 4:17. It is apparent to this writer that these 
things which we have mentioned are at hand, even 
at our doors; and if so, how important it is for 
the child of God to be rooted and grounded in faith. 

In opening the seventh chapter of Revelation 
John sees four angels standing on the four corners 
of the earth — the four points of the compass — hold- 
ing the four winds of heaven. We refer, citing 
DanieFs vision (Dan. 7:2), to the four winds of 
heaven in the first part of this chapter as the power- 
ful influences working in the minds and hearts of 
men, stirring them against each other. Here the 
winds are held by these angels, bringing a season of 



38 THE WORLD WAR 

respite. Men believe that things have returned to 
normal, disturbances in the earth and the heavens 
have subsided, and the recent horrors of the great 
shaking have passed into history. Doubtless sci- 
entists will have figured it all out on scientific princi- 
ples showing the people that they were unneces- 
sarily alarmed for had science been on her job she 
could have forecast these things and avoided all 
this great scare ; but the wise who know and under- 
stand their Bibles, realize that it is only a calm be- 
fore a greater storm. 

Another angel ascends from the east. Probably 
none of these angels are seen or recognized by the 
natural senses, nor their acts or presence realized 
except by faith. This angel has the seal of the liv- 
ing God. God is a Spirit (John 4:24), the seal and 
the sealing are spiritual, it is the impress of the 
Holy Ghost. Eph. 4 :30. By command of this angel 
the four winds are to be held — peace must reign 
temporarily — until the servants of God are sealed 
in their foreheads. 

We would not be dogmatic concerning this seal- 
ing but the Scripture — and sometimes we — speak 
of the impress of character showing in the forehead. 
In the old dispensation Aaron wore a mitre, a plate 
of pure gold, and upon it was engraved "Holiness to 
the Lord." Ex 28:36. Aaron was commanded to 
wear this always upon his forehead. The type, a 
hand engraved gold plate on the forehead, "holiness 
to the Lord." The antitype, the sealing, or filling 
with the Holy Spirit showing in the face— the fore- 



THE WORLD WAR 39 

head — producing holiness to the Lord, especially 
readable and discemable to God Himself and the 
heavenly host. 

John heard the number to be sealed, an hundred 
and forty four thousand Israelites. It will be 
noticed that the ten tribes, so long lost, will be rep- 
resented. The object of this sealing was to prevent 
these Israelites from being harmed while the suc- 
ceeding woes and vials of wrath were being poured 
out. 

John turns again to a heavenly scene and sees 
a great multitude which no man could number; not 
Israelites, but all nations and kindreds and peoples 
and tongues ; and we recognize by their white robes 
that they are the same or at least include those seen 
under the altar crying for vengeance. We are told 
that they came out of great tribulation, having 
washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb. Evidently they have prayed 
through; they have their white robes now; they 
have passed the trouble zone; they are blessed and 
happy, only waiting now for their resurrected 
bodies. 

We do not need to divide these heavenly throngs 
into different classes as Mr. Seiss does ; they are in 
heaven, they have on their white robes, and inas- 
much as there has been no resurrection at this 
period of the revelator's vision, we see no reason 
for considering them in any other light than re- 
deemed souls of the saints who have passed on be- 
fore us since the begining of the Christian Era. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Seventh Seal, the Little Book, the Two 

Witnesses. 

When the seventh seal opens, there is silence in 
heaven about the space of half an hour. We do not 
know the length of this period of time, nor do we 
know that it is important that we should. The 
apostle sees the seven angels, whom Mr. Seiss calls 
"presence angels,*' and who stand before God. And 
to them were given seven trumpets. Mr. Seis3 
enumerates the use of these trumpets; he says the 
voice of the trumpet is *'the most significant voice 
known to the holy Scriptures." He speaks of this 
voice as the call to v/ar. Num. 9:10; the announce- 
ment of Royalty, 1st Kings, 1:34-39; to call the 
people together, Num., 8th chapter ; for proclaiming 
great festivals, Num., 10:10; associated with the 
manifestations of the terrible majesty and power of 
God, Amos 3:6; used in the overthrow of the un- 
godly, Josh. 6:13-16; they proclaimed the laying of 
the foundation of the temple of God, Esdras 3:10. 
Thus we see that the voice of the trumpet under the 
old dispensation had a significance akin to what it is 
generally understood is to be accomplished in the 
sounding of the seven trumpets in the Revelation. 

"Another angel came and stood at the altar, 
having a golden censor; and there was given unto 
him much incense that he should offer it with the 
prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which 



THE WORLD WAR 41 

was before the throne." Again we see human pray- 
ers vieing with God in the great judgments accom- 
panying the blowing of the trumpets. 'The prayers 
of all saints." Since the sermon on the mount, 
God's children have prayed, "Thy kingdom come. 
Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." With- 
out doubt this prayer has bee'^ offered very often in 
coldness and formality, but it has also been offered 
by others who prayed in the spirit and with earnest 
desire, but who frequently did not comprehend its 
full scope and meaning. These earnest prayers have 
been preserved; and now as the succeeding judg- 
ments of these trumpets are about to be poured out, 
and Christ's kingdom about to be established on the 
earth, these preserved prayers "of all saints" are 
offered with incense by this angel on the golden 
altar before the throne, "Thy kingdom come." 

At the sounding of the first trumpet hail and 
fire mingled with blood were cast upon the earth. 
Many and varied are the explanations offered by 
different commentators as to what this means. Any 
interpretation so far as we are concerned must be 
more or less speculative, but it is the writer's 
opinion that the most literal interpretation con- 
sistent with other parts of God's word will bring us 
the nearest to the truth. Just such things happened 
we are told, in the plagues of Egypt, so why should 
we doubt that God will bring back many of these 
plagues in increased power and vividness at the final 
winding up? To spiritualize and typify them 



42 THE WORLD WAR 

lands us at once in the sea of confusion with other 
writers, where no two agree and where the student 
is left in a worse condition than he would be if he 
studied these problems without helps. Countless 
theories have been given out by countless theorists, 
until the people in general are quite skeptical re- 
garding this great and at the present time most 
important book of the whole Bible. Whatever these 
wonderful happenings are, the judgment of these 
trumpets grow more and more severe ; the tests are 
harder for the child of God, and the influences tend- 
ing to drive him away from God, grow stronger; 
meanwhile the torments of the wicked, growing 
more and more severe at every step taken, increase 
with accelerated force, making it much more diffi- 
cult for a sinner to get saved or a backslider re- 
claimed. Rev. 9 :20-21. 

At this juncture of the vision God is already 
working in mighty power by the hand of man and 
in the forces of nature, and we wait to see some of 
the most marvellous manifestations of God's power 
on the one hand and satanic power on the other that 
the world has ever witnessed. 

We will pass over these stupendous happenings 
which are to occur at the sounding of the remaining 
trumpets so far as they relate to judgments of the 
wicked and testings of the saints, acknowledging 
that any honest explanation would entail a greater 
amount of research than the writer is able to give 
and a greater degree of illumination with regard 
to them than he now professes to have. We will 



THE WORLD WAR 43 

repeat, however, that we believe that the simplest, 
most literal understanding of these statements con- 
sistent with reason and the general principles of the 
word of God will prove to be the nearest correct. 
But whatever we read or whatever we are led to 
believe that these statements forecast, let us not 
think that they have already occurred or that they 
will occur in any other than the regular order in 
which they are given; and above all, let us not be 
deceived into believing that they will be any less 
severe, appalling, and fearful, than the picture 
which God has given us, for to be tempted to think 
so is to believe that God's word deals in exaggera- 
tions and is unreliable. Man exaggerates, but 
God does not ; let God be true if it makes every man 
a liar. 

In the tenth chapter of Revelation, first verse, 
John sees another mighty angel come down from 
heaven. Mr. Seiss says that this was none other 
than the Lord Jesus Himself, and from the descrip- 
tion given— "clothed with a cloud and a rainbow 
was upon his head** — we see no reason to doubt 
the correctness of this assertion. John was about 
to write here what he had heard, but a voice from 
heaven forbade him to do so. This angel stood 
upon the earth and the sea with his hand raised 
to heaven swearing by him who liveth forever that 
there should be delay no longer; Am. R.V. This 
angel also declares that in the sounding of the next, 
the seventh, the last trumpet, that the mystery of 
God should be finished. 



44 THE WORLD WAR 

This angel holds a little book in his hand. 
Seiss says that this sealed book is our lost inher- 
itance, which has already been opened by this an- 
gel, the Lord Himself, and which he now hands to 
John, commanding him to eat it; meaning to read, 
meditate and miderstand it; telling him that while 
he would be greatly blessed in learning and under- 
standing its contents, and in knowing what the will 





The Mighty Aiigei 

of the Lord is, and that this knowledge would be 
sweet in its taste, in living it out in his life it 
would be bitter. It is one thing to know and un- 
derstand God's will, but to be true to men and tell 
them the things that they should know of God's 
wrath and of his judgments on wicked men, often 
brings bitter experiences. Persecution often fol- 



THE WORLD WAR 45 

lows which is bitter indeed ; and this St. John found 
to be true in a remarkable degree, for it is said 
that he was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil. 
It was honey in his mouth but bitter in his vitals, 
for he w^as told that he must prophesy before many 
peoples. Some think that John will be one of the 
two witnesses, if this were true this bitterness 
might include that experience. 

The angel commands John, after eating the 
book, to measure the temple — or sanctuary of God 
— or lay God's measuring rod upon it. How many 
of our present day temples and churches would 
measure up if we should lay the measuring rod of 
God's truth upon them? How many present day 
preachers have got the grace or grit, or even 
knowledge of the truth to do it if commanded? 
How unpleasant would be the task of measuring 
''them that worship therein?" How would the 
worldly rich man stand the rod on his business 
methods? How hardly would the libertine bear 
with the preacher whose salary he was helping lib- 
erally to pay, if the preacher laid the rod of truth 
on him? How would the lady of fashion, the de- 
votee of society endure the truth relative to her 
life? But that is just what will come, and Jews, 
Catholics, Protestants, will all have their inner 
lives laid along side of God's rod of truth and be 
shown up in their true light. 

To enter the United States army one must be 
measured, weighed, pass a physical examination of 
the eyesight, hearing and health in general, and 



46 THE WORLD WAR 

frequently it happens that where the local board 
has passed a man, the final examining board at 
headquarters finds that his heart is weak, and for 
that or some other defect, sends him back; the man 
who passes unconditionally is physically without a 
flaw. So the man or woman who weathers the 
storms and comes up in the rapture, will pass the 
scrutiny of God's inspection, will be a perfect speci- 
men of what a Christian should be, measured by 
the rod of God's immutable truth. 

The two witnesses are introduced in the eleventh 
chapter. Much speculation has been indulged in as 
to the identity of these witnesses, but what differ- 
ence does it make? If it is Enoch and Elijah, as 
Seiss believes, or John and Moses, as claimed by 
others, or some persons who have never existed 
heretofore, we hardly see how that matters, as they 
represent principles which in God's mercy to a fallen 
race must be enunciated at this time, just preced- 
ing the rapture. We do not believe — as some 
claim — ^that it is the old and new Testaments, for 
we hardly see how that they could eject fire from 
their mouths, slay their opponents, or be martyred 
and their dead bodies lie in the streets for three 
days; neither do we see how that the old and new 
Testaments could typify all these things or be sym- 
bolized in all these different ways. 

It is very evident that these witnesses are men, 
that they testify to the truths laid down in both the 
old and new Testaments, and that their burning tes- 
timonies are more than wicked men and loose in- 



THE WORLD WAR 47 

consistent professors of religion can stand ; but such 
witnesses are needed and very opportune at such a 
time, to strengthen those who are true, to awaken 
those who are asleep, and to convict and condemn 
those who are living in sin and hypocrisy. The 
shaking has been great, many have fallen out, many 
have been blown away in the winnowing. Some 
have really wondered which was the right way and 
the ring of the testimony of these witnesses places 
such in a position before God where they must ac- 
cept or reject; in their inner consciousness there 
will be no doubt which side they are now on. 

The Apostasy fast ripens for destruction at this 
time, and the spirit of Antichrist will be every- 
where present. But on the testimony of these wit- 
nesses many will be convinced and it may be that 
some will get converted as in the days of the mar- 
tyrs of old. But now comes their martyrdom, all 
Hell lets loose as the rabble are given power to over- 
come them. Here the wicked, the vascillating, the 
weak kneed, and all but those who do know their 
God, conclude that these men must have been im- 
posters after all. They, like the Kaiser, believe that 
might makes right; and as long as these witnesses 
had power to resist and kill their oppressors, they 
thought they were right, not on account of the 
truth, but on account of their power. But now the 
power is taken away, and the world, filled with the 
spirit of Antichrist, and regaining power to over- 
come and kill them, makes these spineless creatures 
conclude that these two witnesses were imposters 



48 THE WORLD WAR 

after all. How important it is to know the truth 
beforehand, for the truth shall make you free. 

These are God's last telling witnesses to the 
truth. No one need doubt any more. But while 
the true light is so bright, and the false light under 
the spirit of Antichrist is so strong and formid- 
able, only the true and the faithful — the most 
manly in character regardless of sex — will be able 
to stand. And they will stand true and not waver, 
presenting such a contrast to these weak' spineless, 
vascillating people! 

May God greatly help us to prepare to meet Him ; 
may God grant us grace and strength to go through 
all these tests and not be found wanting when He 
comes. 



CHAPTER VI. 
The Rapture of the Bride. 

Following the testimony of the two witnesses, 
the seventh trumpet sounds; this is the last trum- 
pet and it is here "at the last trump : for the trum- 
pet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- 
corruptible,'' (1st Cor. 15:52), it is here that we 
may look for the rapture, where we shall all be 
changed. 

There was great commotion in heaven at the 
sounding of this trumpet, and well there might have 
been; for here Christ takes to Himself His great 
power. Heaven rejoices, but the nations were 
angry; heaven sees the final outcome — the destruc- 
tion of all world powers — but the nations intuitively 
feel their coming overthrow. 

This brings us to the twelfth chapter where the 
separation of the Bride from the nominal church, 
in other words the rapture of the Bride, is set be- 
fore us. The scene is a sign or symbol in heaven, 
or as the word says, "a great wonder ;'* God's fam- 
ily are not all on earth, or all in heaven. This won- 
der is a Woman." God's church has always been 
typified as a Woman. She appears in heaven. This 
Woman is clothed with the sun, and she has put on 
Christ, the Sun of righteousness. She has the moon 
under her feet; and as moonlight is reflected sun- 
light, just so is the world living in light reflected 



50 THE WORLD WAR 

from the lives of true Christians, for "ye are the 
light of the world/* Matt. 5:14. "We all, with un- 
veiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of 
the Lord, are transformed into the same image.'* 
2nd Cor. 2:18, R. V. By reflecting the true 
light Christians are being transformed prepara- 
tory for glorification, but here she has no fur- 
ther use for reflected light, she has the moon 
under her feet. Jeremiah speaks of God's new cove- 
nant with His people saying, "They shall teach no 
more every man his neighbor, and every man his 
brother, saying, know the Lord; for they shall all 
know me from the least of them unto the greatest 
of them." Jere. 31 :34. 

"Upon her head a crown of twelve stars." The 
Israelites were divided into twelve tribes, each hav- 
ing its head; the church was headed by twelve 
apostles. In Rev. 1 :20 we are told that the seven 
stars are the angels, or the ministers, of the seven 
churches; and we can safely consider that these 
twelve stars represent the angels, or the leaders of 
the great church, or people of God' since God called 
out and organized a people of His own, separate and 
distinct from the world. It seems to us that this 
is a most beautiful picture — ^this wonder in heaven 
— with which to portray God's church. The sym- 
bol, or wonder appears in heaven, but as we shall 
see, the drama is enacted on earth. A Woman 
clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet 
and a crown of twelve stars on her head ; could we 
conceive of a more beautiful or a more appropriate 



THE WORLD WAR 51 

picture with which to show us His church at the 
time this scene is to occur? 

"And she being with child cried, travailing in 
birth, and pained to be delivered." What silent 
truth — the Word of God — could not do, the tests 
of the prerapture judgments will do, namely: sift 
out the spurious, and by the winds of persecution 
blow away the chaff of the nominal church. God 
will shake, that those who cannot be shaken may 
remain. Some will stand true on principle, but will 
be too much absorbed in the things of time to ap- 
propriate the real oil in their vessels as well as in 
their lamps. Others have walked in the fullness of 
the Spirit, and like Elijah, in comparison with the 
seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, 
are ready for the rapture. Elijah was taken but 
the seven thousand were left. This Woman consti- 
tutes the church, and in her is hidden the mystical 
body of Christ — the Bride. Like the unborn child, 
they are present with the Woman but invisible to 
the natural eye. The wonder, sign or symbol is a 
Woman with child, could the representation be more 
fitting or perfect? 

This Woman travails in birth and is pained to be 
delivered. The breaking of the seals were the be- 
ginning of sorrows, or travail pains, as the revised 
version renders it. No doubt she suffered more of 
persecution, opposition, and odium on account of 
those in her midst who lived further from the world, 
and nearer to God, than she would have suffered 
without their presence ; although knowing that they 



52 THE WORLD WAR 

are sincere and true, she yet suffers on account of 
them and is pained to be delivered. The great Red 
Dragon stands ready to devour the child as soon as 
it is born. The hate, the venom, the awful spite 
of the Devil is always directed the strongest towards 
them that live the closest to God, and reflect in the 
largest degree the character of Jesus Christ. The 
Devil cares little about you or me, except in pro- 
portion as we are new creatures in Christ and filled 
with the spirit, thus representing the one whom he 
hates with a lasting venomous hatred. 

Without any doubt the Devil knew that this birth, 
this rapture of the saints was about to take place. 
How he ascertains such things we know not; but 
we simply know that he is more alive and awake to 
these important happenings than most Christians 
are, for they will yawn while reading their Bibles 
and will pick up a story book and devour it with 
relish and declare that no one can understand 
these deep things of the Bible considering that any 
one who warns them faithfully is like one who 
mocks, as the sons-in-law of Lot considered him on 
the eve of the destruction of Sodom when faithful 
Lot went out to warn them. The Devil gave 
Pharaoh a premonition that a leader of the Israel- 
ites was to be born among them who would deliver 
Israel from Egyptian bondage, and Pharoah wick- 
edly gave command that all innocent babes should 
be slain, but we have God's account of the 
whole matter and see how that God not only raised 
up Moses, but did so at Pharaoh's expense, for 



THE WORLD WAR 53 

Pharaoh brought him up in his own family, edu- 
cated him in the best universities in Egypt, and 
employed Moses' own mother to serve as his nurse. 
Herod had knowledge from some source that Jesus 
was to be born and made all the ingenuity of the 
wise men of his kingdom enlist in his efforts to slay 
this supposed king of the Jews. We read of the 
fearful massacre of innocent babes again, but it 
was, always has been and always will be, impos- 
sible to thwart God's plans. Once more the Devil 
is awake and on hand to destroy the Bride of 
Christ, "for to devour her child as soon as it was 
born." Rev. 12:4. 

"And she brought forth a man child.'' This 
Greek word "man," is used but twice in the New 
Testament (Rev. 12:5th and 13th verses), while 
man, masculine gender, used nearly a thousand times 
— comes from an entirely different Greek word. Mr. 
Seiss, and other Greek scholars tell us that this 
"man-child" has no reference to sex whatever; it 
stands for a manly, virtuous courageous child, re- 
ferring to the qualities and character of the child 
and not to its sex. This child had passed through 
the sifting, the winnowing, the shakings of the seals 
and trumpets without a waver, and being without 
"spot or wrinkle or any such thing," was now ready, 
a man, or manly child, no reference to sex, but 
to character, tested and tried. This child is to rule 
all nations with a rod of iron. Some have insisted 
that this was the prerogative of Christ, and there- 
fore this man-child must mean Christ. But these 



54 THE WORLD WAR 

people have overlooked the fact that the Bride is to 
rule with Christ, and therefore she must rule as He 
rules ; and more than that, it is specially stated that 
the overcomers in the church at Thyatyra, (Rev. 2: 
26, 27) should be given power over the nations, and 
rule them with a rod of iron. The catching up of 
this man-child could not refer to Christ's ascension 
as that occurred long before the book of Revela- 
tion was written, and John (Rev. 4:1) was shown 
''things which must be hereafter/* 

There is no difficulty whatever, as the picture, 
beautifully adapted to this interpretation, fits the 
requirements in every respect, and comes season- 
ably in its proper place, after the seventh or last 
trumpet. Any other interpretation which we have 
seen confuses the question and fails to tally up. 
Scripture with Scripture. We are aware that this 
will upset some people's theories, but it is better to 
throw away a false theory than to retain it. 

The child is bom and evades the Dragon by be- 
ing caught up unto God and to His throne. "And 
the Woman fled into the wilderness (or uninhabited 
place) where she hath a place prepared of God, that 
they should feed her there a thousand two hundred 
and threescore days." 

To avoid confusion we will drop for a moment 
the war in heaven and follow the Woman. Not that 
these matters do not follow in perfect order, but the 
war in heaven, the raptured Bride and the flight of 
the Woman are operative at about the same time or 
follow each other in rapid succession. 



THE WORLD WAR 55 

The Woman was given two great wings for her 
flight. What are these wings? we hardly think 
they are aeroplanes, as the world uses those and a 
flight with aeroplanes would not be secret or 
miraculous. Aeroplanes are man made, and these 
wings were given to her by God Himself. Seiss 
says, "when Israel came out of Egypt God mar- 
vellously strengthened every muscle, and invigorated 
every weakness; there was not one feeble person 
amidst their tribes, * * * * And when they came to 
the wilderness of Sinai where God spoke to them 
from the flaming mountain. He said, "ye have seen 
how I bore you on eagle's wings, and brought you 
unto myself * * * * And those same wings here ap- 
pear again." Evidently these wings are not to be 
flying machines but will again be the miraculous 
help which God will render to such as flee by faith 
to the wilderness rather than fall in with the evil 
spirit of Antichrist when the evil day comes. 

As the Israelites were nourished with manna, so 
the Woman will in some way be nourished by God. 
It is not essential for us to know how or with what 
kind of food. We find predictions of this flight, in 
Christ's discourse on His second coming, in Matt. 
24:16-22, and in Mark 13th chapter and Luke 21st 
chapter. 

The Dragon, or Serpent, "cast out of his mouth 
water as a flood after the Woman, that he might 
cause her io be carried away of the flood. And the 
earth helped the Woman, and the earth opened her 



56 THE WORLD WAE 

mouth and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon 
cast out of his mouth." Mr. Seiss believes that this 
flood represents a host or an army, as floods of 
water often represent. Pharoah's host followed 
Moses and the children of Israel, but the red sea 
swallowed them up ; Kora Dathan and Abiram with- 
stood Moses and the earth opened up and swallowed 
them. It is not an unknown thing where God's 
people have stood true, when being pursued by a 
relentless enemy, for Him to perform a miracle of 
this kind for their protection ; and we see no reason 
to question the position of Mr. Seiss in this matter. 
Certainly God is able, as the Antichrist pursues this 
hunted crowd of His people, to send a tidal wave, 
an earthquake, or by some means of divine inter- 
position, to protect them from annihilation. 

Returning to the war in heaven, we are not to 
understand that Satan was in the upper heavens 
where God's throne is located; he was cast out of 
the upper heavens long ago and after his ejection 
the heavens were purified, disinfected, so to speak. 
Heb. 9:23. It is quite well understood that his 
abode, and that of demons or evil spirits, is in the 
nrst heaven, the atmosphere surrounding the earth. 
St. Paul says, "we wrestle against the rulers of the 
darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness 
in high places," margin says the "heavenlies." Mr. 
i5eiss says, "It may not be in every one's mind that 
the aeria:l regions, the air, the cloud heavens, the 
spaces above the earth are now the chief lurking 
places of demons but so the Bible teaches," and he 



THE WORLD WAR 57 

refers us to Eph. 6:12 and speaks of Satan being 
called ''the prince of the power of the air." 

This war in heaven is to be staged in the aerial 
regions, the first heaven. Satan tries to devour the 
cliild as soon as it is born, and evidently pursues 
her into the air where he is met in battle, he and his 
angels, by Michael and his angels who evidently 
prevail. After this battle their place was not found 
any more in heaven. "The great Dragon was cast 
out, * * * * he was cast into the earth, and his 
angels (demons) were cast out with him." 

This caused great shouting and rejoicing in 
heaven, over the fact that salvation had come and 
the accuser of the brethren had been cast down. 
They call upon the heavens to rejoice, pronouncing 
a woe on the "inhabiters of the earth and of the 
sea for the Devil is come down unto you, having 
great wrath because he knoweth that he has but a 
short time." God grant that those who read these 
lines may be among those v/ho are accounted worthy 
to be accepted when He comes, that they may be 
among those who, having escaped the corruption 
that is in the world through lust, have overcome him 
by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their 
testimony; for now follows the great tribulation. 
It will not last long; but it will be terrible while it 
lasts. The Bride will be taken up, the Holy Ghost 
removed, the Devil and demons let loose right here 
on earth, antichristian principles now obtaining in 
their fulness and the Antichrist on hand ready to 
a^^)ear. 



CHAPTER VII. 
The Antichrist. 

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a 
Beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads and 
ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon 
his heads the name of blasphemy." 

Mr. Seiss says, "Through all the ages of the 
world, there has been a Cain for every Abel, a 
Jannes and Jambres for every Moses and Aaron, a 
Babylon for every Jerusalem, a Herod for every 
John the Baptist, and a Nero for every going forth 
of God's consecrated apostles." These he states are 
types and precursors of the ultimate heading up of 
all evil in the final antichrist, adding "it is this 
serpent seed, in its ultimate development, even THE 
MANIFESTED ANITICHRIST, whose portrait is 
given us in the chapter we now enter." 

The time is ripe, the witnesses have spoken and 
gone, the Bride has been taken, and the resolute few 
who are left have had to flee to the dens, the caves 
and the wilderness, or they have already been mar- 
tyred. 

This Beast, properly rendered, a most ferocious 
wild Beast, which comes up out of the sea, out from 
among the people, we most unhesitatingly say is the 
personal Antichrist; not his system alone, but 
headed by him— a personality. He is represented as 
a most ferocious wild beast. Ordinary wild beasts 
will slay their victims to satisfy their hunger, but 



THE WORLD WAR 59 

they have never been known to torture them as mad- 
dened humanity have been known to do. Except for 
God's intervention, the lions would have destroyed 
Daniel, but they would never have inoculated him 
with leprosy or tuberculosis as the Kaiser's men 
are reported to have done. Only for the form of 
the fourth, the three Hebrew children would have 
suddenly perished in the flames of the fiery furnace, 
but it took a Nero to fill his victims with 
pine slivers, setting them on fire to light up his 
garden and causing them to die of the most intense 
suffering. The torture inflicted on the early Chris- 
tian martyrs, with much that has been written of 
the atrocities of the present German fighting ma- 
chine, would put ordinary wild beasts to shame. 

This beast has seven heads. Many and various 
are the opinions that have been advanced as to what 
these heads represent; some having settled it that 
the Pope is the Antichrist, tell us that these heads 
are seven mountains, or hills in Rome. In the 17th 
chapter of Rev., 9th verse, it says, "The seven heads 
are seven mountains on which the woman (the 
Scarlet Woman) sitteth.'* Seiss concludes that the 
seven heads are seven kings, presenting a lengthy 
argument to sustain this theory. We have no doubt 
that the Antichrist is a person, a man, heading a 
gigantic antichristian system to be sure, but this 
system is headed by a man who is known in proph- 
ecy as the Antichrist. This system has been in 
preparation for centuries. His seven heads are 
seven mountains — or systems, or divisions of one 



60 THE WORLD WAR 

great system — on which the Scarlet Woman — the 
Apostasy — sitteth. This Scarlet Woman represents 
back-slidden apostate Christians: and they are the 
shrewdest, most zealous politicians on earth. In 
fact an ecclesiasticism as soon as organized, almost 
necessarily starts as a kindergarten in political 
economy, and its representatives continue as they 
grow in numbers and age until they become past 
masters in all sorts of political wire pulling. 

Like any other system or form of government, 
the antichristian system will be represented by de- 
partments or heads. These seven heads might be 
classified as follows : the legislative head, the admin- 
istrative head, the judicial head, the military head, 
the mercantile Jiead, the industrial head, and the 
ecclesiastical head. This seems a most reasonable 
proposition to this writer, no one supposes that 
the Antichrist will have seven real heads on his 
body, but the system he holds sway over will have. 
He will rule over the greatest world power this age 
has ever known divided into seven departments or 
heads. The above may not be the exact arrange- 
ment, but it will consist of subdivided authority, 
delegated and controlled by the Antichrist himself, 
so that these heads can properly be called his heads. 

The ten horns of this Beast, bearing ten crowns, 
denote rulership, or ten kings. Mr. Seiss says, 
'This beast is an individual administration, em- 
bodied in one particular man. Though upheld by 
ten kings or governments, they unite in making the 
Beast the one sole Arch Regent of their time." This 



THE WORLD WAR 61 

is unquestionably the fact. There will be a federa- 
tion of nations ruled by one supreme king or dic- 
tator. 

To locate and describe these ten suzerainties 
would be a matter of more or less speculation on 
this writer's part, and, being quite unnecessary for 
the purposes of this work, we leave that to others 
who are better fitted to solve such problems, pas- 
sing on to what we consider more important things. 

The Beast was like unto a leopard. Wild beasts 
usually destroy their victims to satisfy their hunger, 
but we are told that the leopard falls on its prey 
whether driven by hunger or not, and often leaves 
its dead victim neither mangled or torn. This has 
been the characteristics of many ancient rulers, 
notably Nero, who took the lives of his victims from 
no rule of necessity whether political or otherwise. 
**His feet were as the feet of a bear. As the will is 
the means which carry us in our plans and deci- 
sions, it has been designated as our spiritual feet: 
''Thy word is a lamp unto my feet," Ps. 119:105; 
And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gos- 
pel of peace." Eph. 6 :15. The foot of the bear is the 
most powerful in proportion to his body of any 
animal in the world, and we expect, of all men who 
have ever lived on earth, the Antichrist will be the 
man with an unswerving iron will. His mouth is as 
the mouth of a lion : the lion is the king of the forest 
and when he roars the wilderness trembles, his 
voice is eloquent with power. 

We now see a character, as beautiful, sleek 



62 THE WORLD WAR 

and attractive as the leopard, and just as 
treacherous, cold blooded and merciless, with a will 
that iron cannot break or bend, and with an elo- 
quence that will sway and captivate every soul of 
man v/ho is not anchored in God. He has been given 
his power and authority by the devil, and he is 
backed by an almost universal sentiment that has 
been gaining ground and ascendency since the day of 
the apostles. Having all the wealth, the power and 
the influence of all the legislative, the administra- 
tive and judicial departments at his command, in 
fact, all subject to his dictation, when such a one 
opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, who 
will be able to withstand it? And on his heads the 
names of blasphemy were written. 

As he appears, John sees one of his heads as it 
were, wounded to death, mortally wounded, prac- 
tically dead, but this deadly wound was healed. He 
appears with one dead head, but its healing 
occurs after he appears. The restoration or heal- 
ing of this head is the thing that will incite prac- 
tically a universal admiration and endorsement of 
himself and his administration; it will be his first 
trump card in winning, as well as coercing the world 
to follow him. 

The world generally is looking for one of the 
most gigantic struggles between capital and labor 
that has ever been witnessed. Socialism, anarchism, 
and different forms of industrial unrest are every- 
where present. No lesser man or commercial general 
than Charles M. Schwab has recently been quoted as 



THE WORLD WAR 



63 



predicting that we are near the time when there will 
be no rich men, or words to that effect. We expect 
to see such a successful war of the industrial, against 
the commercial head, that to all appearances the 
latter will be destroyed ; but inasmuch as brains and 
not brawn are sure to win, out of the mixup, the 





Typical Strike Scene 

Antichrist will devise a plan whereby the brainy 
and the aggressive portion of both classes, will form 
a coalition, eliminate the drones and underlings from 
the moneyed class, and form a new mercantile head 
which will far exceed in efficiency, anjrthing that 
has ever been known, and thus this deadly wounded 
head will be resuscitated. 

Some months after writing the above, we clipped 
the following from an article by Mr. Charles M. 



64 THE WORLD WAE 

Schwab, in the September — 1918 — number of the 
American Magazine : 

"Workers, men who do things either with their 
hands or their heads, will be the real leaders of the 
world after the w^ar. Nations will not be led and 
governed by men who are aristocrats only by birth 
or by riches. The aristocrats of the future will be 
the men who, either in business or in other direc- 
tions, have distinguished themselves by what they 
have done for the progress and the prosperity of 
their country or mankind. 

"There is coming a more equitable readjustment 
of rewards for work done and services rendered. 
But the readjustment, to my mind, will take the 
form of evolution and not revolution." 

Mr. Schwab undoubtedly sees the handwriting 
on the wall, but naturally he would not care to 
throw a sop to socialism, neither would it be a 
pleasant matter for him to contemplate a revolu- 
tion as a means of bringing about the results which 
he foresees; but if our understanding of the head 
wounded to death is correct, together with its 
resuscitation, then Mr. Schwab will see the thing 
accomplished by revolution, and not evolution, 
should he live to the time of its accomplishment. 

When this has been achieved by Antichrist, and 
the people see the world making such tremendous 
strides in worldly success, order brought out of 
chaos, by this mighty man, with every arm of or- 
ganized government brought under his control, 
how people will wonder after him, saying "Who is 
Hke unto the Beast? Who is able to make war with 
him?" The whole life and thought of this Beast 
is to bring all men to his feet and win the world 



THE WORLD WAR 65 

to himself; his whole aim is the coronation of him- 
self as God: (2nd Thess. 2:4) and every depart- 
ment, whether of justice — so called — commerce or 
what not, all being under his direct control will 
echo his will, his sentiments in everything, which 
sentiments will head up in blasphemy against God. 
They will love to blaspheme to please him. 

The Antichrist will advocate, and introduce many 
things that a Christian could endorse today ; he will 
propagate everything that seems to benefit the world 
and make it a better place in which to live ; Christian 
professors who know nothing better than reform 
work will run after him, rendering him the most 
fulsome praise; he may be a staunch prohibitionist; 
he will propagate and build up works of mercy, 
public utilities for the benefit of the people, colleges, 
hospitals, etc. ; he will foster the sciences, literature, 
music, the drama ; he will do his best (and that is 
not a little) to make this world the very best place 
to live in that the human mind can conceive, he 
will endeavor to make it a veritable garden of Eden, 
and many will think that the millennium has come. 
Under his reign there will be one of the greatest 
seasons of worldly prosperity that has ever been 
witnessed, but as Mr. Seiss says, he will hide the 
love of money getting under the guise of benevol- 
ences and the public weal. The Antichrist receives 
the Devirs second offer of "All these things will I 
give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me." 
Christ rejects, the Antichrist accepts and divides 
the spoils with his adherents. 



ee THE WORLD WAR 

Some have thought that the German Kaiser was 
the Antichrist, but this seems impossible. Without 
doubt he and his system are the most perfect type 
of Antichrist that has ever risen. 

We were greatly impressed in reading "The 
Kaiser as I knew him," by Arthur N. Davis, D.D.S. 
Dr. Davis (an American) was the Kaiser's dentist, 
and we quote from a serial article from his pen 
which appeared in the Chicago Daily News. 

"This was the man whose various acts of consider- 
ation toward me, whose talents and personal charms 
had made such a favorable impression upon me! 
How trivial and inconsequential they all seemed 
now! * * * while he was outwardly display- 
ing all the earmarks of a gentle character he was 
inwardly plotting to dominate the world.. * * * And 
yet strangely enough, even after the war had re- 
vealed the Kaiser to me in his true colors and had 
shown him to be capable of deeds which I should 
have thought were foreign to his nature, his pres- 
ence always had a most remarkable effect upon me. 

I have a vivid mental impression of him now as I 
write. He is standing in the center of my room, 
drawn up to his full height, his shoulders thrown 
back, his left hand upon the hilt of his sword and 
his right hand emphasizing his remarks. * * * His 
ready, well chosen words entrance me. I feel that 
this man must be telling me the truth and I am ready 
to believe that before me stands the most unjustly 
judged man in the world. And then he shakes my 
hand in farewell and is driven away, and * * * there 
come before my eyes the desolation of Belgium, the 
tragedy of the Lusitania, the despoliation of France 
and Poland, the destruction of women and children 
in London and Paris and a thousand and one 
atrocious deeds which belie the Kaiser's fair words, 
and I realize that I have been talking to the world's 
most finished actor and have simply been bewitched 
by the power of his personal magnetism." 



THE WORLD WAR 67 

You have noted how the Kaiser and his following 
have entertained the thought of world conquest and 
world dominion, but he has simply appeared a little 
too early, he is a kind of John the Baptist to the 
Antichrist. The Kaiser will be conquered, he will 
decrease but the principles of his system will in- 
crease until they have mastered the world. 'What ! 
autocracy?" some one asks, no not an autocracy, 
but the wordly desires and ambitions of an aristo- 
cratic ungodly few, working and leavening the 
minds and hearts of a world-loving populace, until 
the controlling elements of a democracy, being thor- 
oughly imbued with antichristian principles, will 
run mad on centralization and "efficiency," until the 
world finds itself in the grip of the Antichrist and 
his system, which will be a very much improved and 
greatly elaborated system like that of the German 
Kaiser. 

The Kaiser and Antichrist are near kindred, the 
world will whip the Kaiser, and Jesus Christ will 
conquer the Antichrist, and both will spend eternity 
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; 
so let us beware lest we become wedded to the 
spirit and the great world system that made the 
Kaiser what he was, whether that spirit bears the 
label of Autocracy or Democracy. 

He makes war with the remnant of the seed of 
the woman; the bride has been taken, the woman 
has flown to the wilderness, but here and there one 
sees the truths that have been taught and empha- 
sized in the flight of the woman, and in the death of 



68 THE WORLD WAR 

the martyrs; but as fast as one does get light and 
stands for the real truth, the Beast makes a war of 
extermination of all such. These are times more 
trying than any that has ever been known and un- 
less the time should be shortened there would no 
flesh be saved, but Jesus promises that these days 
shall for the elect's sake be shortened. Matt 24 :22. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The False Prophet. 

"And I beheld another beast coming" up out of the 
earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake 
as a dragon." Rev. 13:11. 

Mr. Seiss says, "The Antichrist, though an in- 
dividual, is not alone. He not only has the ten 
sovereignties working into his hand with all "their 
power and strength," but he has a more intimate 
and a more potent companion, hardly less remark- 
able than himself, duplicating his power, and with- 
out whom he could not be what he is. * * * The 
religious element is one of the most powerful in 
humanity. Its great potency appears in all the 
history of mankind. It cannot be ignored, sup- 
pressed, or put aside. * * * The Antichrist, though 
opposing and exalting himself* above all that is 
called God, or that is worshipped, "still finds it 
essential to have a religion. The Dragon sets up 
the Anti-God, the ten horned beast, his son, is the 
Antichrist; and the two-horned beast, proceeding 
from, and operating in the interest of both, is the 
Anti-holy Ghost, and these three are hell's Trinity." 

This Beast without doubt, represents a person, 
and we are told that he has miraculous power, caus- 
ing fire to come down out of heaven in the sight of 
men, deceiving them by miracles which he does. 
Unless people learn the principles of Bible truths 
and stick to them, the Devil will present all other 
kinds of proofs with which to fool them. 



70 THE WORLD WAR 

Mr. Siess notices that this Beast somes up out 
of the earth, not out from among the people — or 
sea — as the first Beast does, and he believes that this 
is a man resurrected from the dead, and inclines 
to the belief with some others, that it is Judas 
Iscariot. We do not know whether this person will 
be a resurrected being or not, we incline to that 
belief, but if a resurrected person, it matters but 
little so far as this work is concerned whether he 
is Judas or some other, our greatest concern is to 
know his mode of operation that we may avoid 
being deceived ourselves, and that we may faithfully 
warn others. 

He is a coworker with, and a vicegerent of the 
Antichrist, of that we may feel sure, and we need 
to know his method of working and watch for the 
spirit which he manifests. He performs miracles, 
therefore we should scrutinize very closely miracu- 
lous things done in the name of religion. The 
Devil can work miracles through human agencies, 
to deny it is to shut ones eyes to the truth and 
render oneself open to the most subtle deception. 
"The test of a miracle is its supernaturalness ; the 
test of its source, is the doctrine, end, or interest 
for which it is wrought." Seiss. 

This Beast has two horns like a lamb ; Mr. Seiss 
says, "Horns are symbols of power ; but these horns 
have no diadems, and are like the horns of a gentle 
domestic animal. Political sovereignty, war, con- 
quest, and the strength of military rule are there- 
fore out of the question here. This Beast is a prophet, 



THE WOULD WAR 71 

a spiritual teacher, and not a king or Warrior. His 
power has a certain softness or domesticity about 
it which is sharply distinguished from the great 
regal horns of the first Beast, although, in reality of 
the same Wild Beast order and belonging to the 
same Dragon brood." 

We can hardly do better than to endorse Mr. 
Seiss in his description, and ascriptions of this 
Beast — the False Prophet. Again he says, "Taking 
the whole history of all religions, true and false, * * * 
and searching for the elements of their hold on 
men's minds ; their power, it will be found to reside 
in two things, which * * * we may call naturalism 
and siipernaturalism ; that is, the presence of 
revelations, or what are accepted as revelations, 
from the superior powers, and held to be divine and 
binding; or conclusions of natural conscience and 
reason, deemed sacredly obligatory because believed 
to be good and true. It is difficult to conceive on 
what other foundation a religion can rest; and 
analysis will show that on one or the other of these, 
or on both combined, all religions do rest, and must 
rest. Here is the seat of their strength, their 
power, whether true or false, the horns by which 
they push their way to dominion over the hearts 
and lives of men. They are just two and no more. 
* * * He is lamblike in that he proposes to occupy 
only the mild, domestic, and inoffensive position 
of spiritual adviser. 

What more gentle, and innocent, than the coun- 
selling of people how to live and act, for the secure- 



72 THE WORLD WAR 

ment of their happiness! But the words are Hke 
the Dragon, in that such professions and claims are 
in fact the assumption of absolute dominion over 
the minds, souls, consciences, and hearts of men, to 
bind them irrevocably, and to compel them to think 
and act only as he who makes them shall dictate 
and prescribe. Only to the eternal God belongs 
such power; and when claimed by a creature, is, 
indeed, the speech of the Devil, the spirit of hell 
usurping the place and prerogative of the Holy 
Ghost. * * * 

There is then, to be a new religion for our world, 
as scientists and reformers already claim and pro- 
claim. It will also be a powerful and universal 
religion. It will ground itself in pretensions to the 
profoundest wisdom, intelligence, reason, truth, and 
progress. It will sway the earth, and carry with it 
all who are not written in the Lamb's book of life. 
It will be the final coronation of progressivism, of 
human perfectibility. But it will be a religion whose 
God is Antichrist, and whose sacraments are the 
seals of damnation, inevitable and eternal. God save 
us from unfaithfulness to His Gospel that the 
"strong delusion" which leaves no hope may never 
touch any one who hears this warning of what is to 
come." 

"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by 
means of those miracles which he had power to do 
in the sight of the Beast; saying to them that dwell 
on the earth, that they make an image to the Beast 
which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And 
he had power to give life unto the image of the 
Beast, that the image of the Beast should both 



THE WORLD WAR 73 

speak, and cause that as many as would not wor- 
ship the image of the Beast should be killed." Rev. 
13:14, 15. 

Mr. Seiss says that this image is a statue, 
which is the impression naturally gained from the 
reading, but it is the writer's impression that Mr. 
Seiss, had he written his book fifty years later 
would have thought differently. 

It is the opinion of this writer that this "Image" 

represents some apparatus, system, or means by 
which the outward character of the Antichrist 
(possibly his system of work included) will be 
constantly brought to the mind and attention of his 
subjects, making him omnipresent — or as nearly so 
as his great resources are able to make him — 
throughout the entire world. 

Jesus, at His first advent was circumscribed in 
His operations by His humanity. He could be in only 
one place at a time, hence Jesus declared, "It is 
expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not 
away ; the Comforter will not come unto you, but if 
I depart, I will send him unto you, and when He is 
come. He will reprove the world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment." Jesus was not — 
in His humanity — omnipresent, but the Holy Ghost 
is omniprsent in spirit-filled men, and after Pente- 
cost, when the Holy Ghost had been given, St. Paul 
asserts, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them; and hath committed unto us the word of 
reconcilation. Now then we are ambassadors for 



74 THE WORLD WAE 

Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we 
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.'' 
2 Cor. 5:19, 20. We see that Jesus is omnipresent 
or manifest to our sensibilities, by the Holy Ghost 
in spirit filled men. 

Whether this image, or likeness — picture of this 
Beast — is to be a statue, in other words a molten 
or cast image, or whether it is to be what the Bible 
calls a "graven image," meaning an engraving or a 
picture; assuming that the Antichrist and False 
Prophet are human personalities, limited and cir- 
cumscribed in the manifestation of themselves to 
a world of people scattered all over the inhabited 
globe, rapid as transportation has already become, 
and making all due allowance for increased 
rapidity of locomotion by air and other means 
in its future development, it is quite evident 
that something approaching nearer to the omni- 
presence of God's Holy Spirit will be required than 
a cumbersome statue, with which to keep the per- 
sonal attractiveness, the commanding eloquence, the 
extraordinary wit and wisdom, of this wonderful 
personage, constantly before the minds and atten- 
tion of the world's populace, assisting him to enforce 
his iron will, dictating his every wish and desire 
in their every day lives, and by which he can spread 
his propaganda and inoculate the people with his 
very presence and self. 

What, may we ask, would best serve such a 
purpose? Would a clumsy statue, moulded from 
cumbrous earthly materials ; or, would a large num- 



THE WORLD WAB 75 

ber of molten images, set up in different parts of 
the world, which at best could not be a perfect 
reproduction of his affableness and expression of 
counteance under varying circumstances, or would 
the moving picture film, which can be sent by mail 
in perfect duplicates the world over, and set in 
operation in every town and hamlet in the world, 
better meet the requirements of a fictitious omni- 
presence? 

What is the best and growing illustrative 
medium in the world today, is it works of art in 
sculpture? No; comparatively few — when we con- 
sider the populace as a whole — who care a hill of 
beans for art in this line. Is it newspaper and 
magazine illustrations ? These are very popular and 
have a great circulation, but compare their popular- 
ity, the money expended on them all with 
the enormous expenditure of money on moving 
pictures, and illustrated periodicals take a very 
small place beside them. What warrants the colossal 
salaries which are being paid to men and women of 
mediocre ability who pose and act for this work? It 
is the enormous patronage which they bring to the 
most universally popular kind of art, or image 
work in the world. 

What is already inculcating the spirit of the 
world in the masses more than any other thing? 
What is depleting the prayer rooms and the social 
means of grace in our churches to an alarming ex- 
tent is it the dance hall, the card party, the 
lodge? No; like Saul in comparison to David, they 



76 THE WORLD WAR 

have slain their thousands, but the moving pictures 
have slain their tens of thousands. 

But the moving pictures do not speak ! and this 
image or picture must speak. Moving pictures have 
already been made to operate with a phonographic 
connection representing the human voice. Like all 
human invention it has to be perfected and has not 
yet reached the stage of what is known as com- 
mercial success, but it requires no prophetic mind, 
or stretch of the imagination to say that the time 
is not far distant when the movies will speak as 
well as act, and when all the movements — or so 
many as may be desired — of our leading men, will 
be reproduced on the screen, showing every gesture, 
every facial expression, and reproducing their 
words with every inflection of the voice; in fact, 
perfectly presenting them to the consciousness of 
the individual through the medium of eye and ear, 
rendering them as nearly omnipresent as it is 
possible for human ingenuity to do. • 

Furthermore, if, as some stoutly maintain — and 
we frankly admit — ^this Beast represents a gigantic 
world power or system (only we add that it must 
necessarily be headed by an individual, fitted and 
prepared for the work of operating this system), 
then the moving picture is the only medium which 
human hands and inventive genius can produce, that 
we can conceive of, which can be used as an image, 
or a likeness of the great group in operation, the 
system itself. A point in illustration of what we 
say is the moving picture entitled "Uncle Sam at 



THE WORLD WAR 77 

Work." This we are told is a most interesting, and 
instructive picture, showing on the screen the 
various operations of employees in the United States 
Mint, and in other departments of government 
service at Washington, D. C. 

How could a statue, or carved or molten image, 
or even the best illustrated magazines, so clearly 
and graphically depict these different and varied 
operations, and show the exact expressions of coun- 
tenance of the employed, and convey them to the 
human mind? 

Reader, you may accept this for what it is worth, 
but it is the writer's firm conviction that we may 
find the solution of many of these seemingly deep 
and mysterious visions which John the Revelator 
saw, in things right at hand, things which today are 
commonplace. They were great and marvellous in 
John's day, even fifty years ago many of our most 
common things, telephone, electric cars, horseless 
carriages, flying machines and moving pictures 
would have been considered among the impossible. 

This Beast— the False Prophet — causeth all, 
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, 
to receive a mark in their right hand or in their 
forehead ; and he gets up a boycott system whereby 
no man may buy or sell save he that hath the mark» 
or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name. 
All this buttoning, labelling and tagging that we see 
today is for the preparation of the human mind, 
getting it in readiness for the great coming tag day 
when the False Prophet, under the direction of the 



78 THE WORLD WAR 

Antichrist, will get humanity in shape to pass the 
requirements of doing business, or even living peace- 
fully under the reign of the Antichrist. The mark 
was placed on the forehead — a tag showing his 
mental bias toward the Antichrist — or in his right 
hand, a tag showing his labor union connection. We 
take this to mean that his button or tag, was 'a 
proof that he was affiliated — if a laborer — ^with such 
union or labor organization as was endorsed by Anti- 
christ, and if a man of affluence, he was affiliated 
with such religious, social and political organiza- 
tions as were propagated and sanctioned by Anti- 
christ. A system of registration, in which these 
tags and buttons would be issued by proper dele- 
gated authority, will doubtless be installed which 
will be practically perfect in its working. 

No man could buy or sell who was not thus 
tagged, buttoned or branded officially, with the 
name or sentiments of the Beast, or the number of 
his name. His number was 666. Number six is 
the evil number, as the darkest hour preceding 
dawn; Christ crucified the sixth day, Friday. Six 
is the completion of evil, his number is a trinity of 
sixes — 666 — . How strange, but multiplied thou- 
sands who pass for excellent Christians will then be 
buttoned and tagged with the trinity of evil without: 
being conscious of its significance. 

Mr. Seiss holds the opinion that this mark will 
be a real branding, he says, "As masters in old time 
branded their slaves, and owners of stock brand 
their cattle, so are the people branded under the 



THE WORLD WAR 79 

Antichrist. Declining the baptism of Christ, they 
must take upon their bodies the sign and seal that 
they are sold and held as goods and chattels of 
hell." We doubt this explanation of this sealing, it 
seems to this writer that such a drastic require- 
ment would create a most unfavorable impression 
with the people at large and would excite prejudices 
in the minds of the people that would be inimical to 
the Antihrist's popularity ; we believe that it will be 
something more subtle and deceiving like the regis- 
tering, buttoning and tagging, for all of which the 
people will be already prepared when he comes. But 
whatever it is, it will be equally as binding, enslav- 
ing, complete in its control, as the actual brand in 
the flesh would be, but if not subtle, deceiving, mak- 
ing it in a way acceptable to the people, it would not 
be characteristic of Antichrist. 



CHAPTER IX. 
The Vials of Wrath. 

We notice in the 14th chapter a Lamb, or we 
might say The Lamb on mount Sion, and with him 
a hundred and forty-four thousand, having the 
name of his Father written in their foreheads. This 
description ought to identify them beyond a doubt 
as the 144,000 Israelites which we read about in 
the seventh chapter. Mr. Seiss enters into an 
elaborate discussion regarding these sealed ones, 
concerning their location at this time, and also con- 
cerning their song, all of which is interesting and 
doubtless true, but space forbids us to quote him 
here. 

We have in this chapter messages from angels 
flying in the heavens, one having the everlasting 
gospel to preach. At this juncture, the power and 
spirit of Antichrist is such that all human effort to 
preach the gospel is immediately suppressed; but 
the gospel must be preached and it will be preached 
if it has to be done by angels. This gospel preached 
by these celestial ministers, is largely a savor of 
death unto death — ^a judgment message — ^as very 
few indeed will embrace it. There are still an ex- 
tremely small number of savable souls as is evi- 
denced by the 12th and 13th verses. 

The idea that there is no hope, absolutely no 
chance, for a soul to be saved after the rapture of 



THE WORLD WAR 81 

the Bride, is erroneous, and the claim which is made 
by some that a person is a second probationist who 
believes in the possibility of salvation for a soul 
after the rapture, is absurd, showing a sad lack of 
understanding of theological terms. A man's pro- 
bation is his trial on earth, covering this present 
life from the cradle to the grave, and to say that a 
person who happened to be born at about the time 
of the rapture would be deprived of a chance for his 
salvation, is to say that God is a respecter of per- 
sons. It is a doctrine as false and pernicious as the 
early calvinistic doctrine of infant damnation. 
These doctrinaires used to tell us that **hell was 
paved with infant skulls." 

Again, to teach that there will be a sweeping 
revival after the rapture, is, we believe erroneous; 
we find no warrant for such a conclusion in the 
Word of God, and at the period we are now con- 
sidering, there will be so few who have the moral 
fibre and backbone, to embrace the gospel message 
of salvation, that their numbers will be negligible 
indeed. The overwhelming majority of the people 
will chance God's fearful judgments proclaimed by 
the angels, rather than to face the certain loss of 
life (possibly by the most fearful means of torture) 
at the hands of Antichrist and his following. 

These are fearful judgment messages, awful as- 
urances of God's wrath, proclaimed by angels, to be 
visited on all who worship the Beast and receive 
his mark, but, thank God, His mercy shines out from 
the dark judgment clouds in verses 12 and 13, 



82 THE WORLD WAR 

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they 
that keep the commandments of God, and the faith 
of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven say- 
ing unto me, write blessed are the dead which die 
in the Lord from henceforth. 

This announcement "from henceforth," was made 
by the Angel some time after the rapture. The last 
of human testimony and human preaching of which 
we have a record, came from the two witnesses, 
but under Antichrist, human testimony for Christ is 
suppressed altogether, and any who dare be so 
fool-hardy as to even refuse to worship the Beast 
and receive his mark, are quickly disposed of. 
People in general however will have so compromised 
with the world and sold out to Antichrist at this 
time, that even angel messages accompanied by 
the fearful carnage and suffering which will follow 
the thrusting in of the "sharp sickles" will cause 
no repentance on their part. 

The wine press was trodden without the city with 
blood flowing the streets up to the horses' bridles. 
The seven vials — or bowls — ^filled with the wrath 
of God are to be poured out; the first brings a 
grievous sore on all who had the mark of the Beast 
and who worshipped his image: reader, if you are 
a lover of the world, a devotee of its fashions, car- 
ried away with the "Movies," and elated to be 
tagged and buttoned with every new fad that arises, 
beware and see what you are heading up to, you 
are a good subject for a worshipper of Antichrist. 

The second bowl is poured out upon the sea and 
it became blood, and every living soul died in the 



THE WORLD WAR 83 

sea. This cannot mean the populace as in other 
places but must refer to the sea, as otherwise the 
whole population would die at this time which is not 
true, and furthermore, immediately following, the 
rivers and fountains of waters are visited with the 
plague and are all turned to blood. Such things 
occurred in the plagues of Egypt, and why should 
we think it a thing incredible that God should re- 
peat them in an enlarged way at the end and judg- 
ment of the world ? 

The fourth vial is poured out on the sun, greatly 
intensifying its heat until men are actually scorched 
as with fire, but they do not repent, on the con- 
trary, their seared and hardened consciences and 
hearts become calloused, and they blaspheme the 
name of God. The fifth vial is poured out on the 
seat of the Beast producing great darkness through- 
out his kingdom, and the hardened wretches "gnaw 
their tongues with pain and blaspheme the God of 
heaven and repented not of their deeds.'* Rev. 
16:10, 11. The sixth vial is poured out on the great 
river Euphrates, drying up its waters in prepara- 
tion for the way of the "kings of the east.*' Mr. 
Seiss gives a very interesting exegesis of this prepa- 
ration and its consequent results which we will not 
attempt to quote here. He believes this to be a 
way prepared for the incoming hordes who will 
join the forces which are to be arrayed against God 
and His hosts in the last great battle between the 
forces of good and evil. His explanation of this 
great event is both interesting and instructive, but 



84 THE WORLD WAR 

we, in this work, are principally interested in 
pointing out the methods God will employ in these 
great judgments, and especially, the principles 
adopted by the opposing forces of evil, laying em- 
phasis on the seriousness of the far-reaching con- 
sequences of being found on the wrong side. 

At the outpouring of this vial John saw "three 
unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of 
the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and 
out of the mouth of the False Prophet.'* Rev. 
16:13. That God allows wicked spirits to influence 
the minds, and in that way direct the actions, of 
rebellious men against their own best interests, is 
not only a fact but a matter of history. Pharaoh's 
heart was hardened, doubtless through the inter- 
vention, advice and influence of evil spirits. To 
show us a perfect example of a man of God, Satan 
was allowed to test Job to the last limit of human 
endurance. Seiss calls attention to the time when 
the wicked Ahab had reached the height of his 
rebellious career, that God allowed a lying spirit to 
go forth into the mouths of all his prophets to 
persuade him to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead. 
The Lord chose this wicked spirit to do the work, 
but God was faithful to Ahab and sent a true 
prophet to tell him the actual truth. This is a story 
full of interest, read it, 1 Kings 22:19-38. 

'These unclean spirits like frogs have the power 
to work miracles, Satanic miracles, by which they 
offset everything divinely supernatural and per- 
suade men by their preaching, oracles, and lying 



THE WORLD WAR 85 

wonders, stirring up all the powers that be, to unite 
in one universal movement to suppress and extermi- 
nate the incoming kingdom and power of the 
Lamb." Seiss. 

These unclean spirits inculcate their doctrines, 
and enlist the co-operation of the people by obses- 
sion and possession of the minds and hearts of pub- 
lic orators who propagate and scatter the doctrines 
of the Dragon and the Beast world-wide. Just what 
these doctrines are, being more filthy and unclean 
than what has already preceded, we are unable to 
say, but judging by the looseness in deportment be- 
tween the sexes, the alarming increase in the di- 
vorce evil, the disregard of the sacredness of the 
marriage tie, the immodest fashions adopted by the 
female sex in their wearing apparel, with the 
growth of secret sins and sodomy, it appears to this 
writer that the world is preparing itself for a great 
incoming flood of sexual uncleanness, free loveism 
and indiscriminate harlotry. 

These three spirits are unclean spirits, they go 
forth to the kings of the earth to gather them to- 
gether to the great battle of God Almighty. We 
are not positive that this uncleanness has reference 
to the things mentioned above, but we do know that 
departure from God is the first step towards the in- 
troduction of these evils, and we expect that the 
further men depart from God, the deeper they 
get involved in licentiousness, as we are so clearly 
taught in the first chapter of the Epistle to the 
Romans. Men in this condition of heart will fight 



86 THE WORLD WAR 

to the bitter end for their liberty to indulge and 
satisfy their lustful passions, and doubtless God's 
decree, of the hottest hell for adulterers, branding 
at the same time such who have more than one liv- 
ing companion, in other words, divorced persons 
who have remarried during the lifetime of the 
former partner. Mark 10:11-12. Romans 7:3. 
These together with the vast and growing num- 
bers of married men and women who are false to 
their marriage vows, the large army of unclean 
mortals in other lines, all of which practices have 
been conducted with considerable secrecy up to the 
present, when the old world gets ripe enough, these 
are going to resent the restraint put on such prac- 
tices and demand that they be made respectable by 
public endorsement, and they will cry out in mad- 
dened determination against God's restraining man- 
dates, saying, "Let us break their bands asunder, 
and cast away their cords from us." Psalms 2:3. 
As a pointer, showing the present trend of 
things in the world, but at the same time confirming 
our statement that the world is not yet ripe for the 
ministry of these unclean spirits, we quote from 
this morning's Chicago Daily Tribune, August 23, 
1918: 

BATHING BEACH SHOCKS POTSDAM; POLICE 
CALLED IN 

(By Cable to The Chicago Tribune.) 
LONDON, Aug. 22.— The Daily Express reports 
from Amsterdam that such scandalous scenes have 
taken place at Zoppot, a fashionable Prussian bath- 
ing resort hear Dantzig, that the police were ordered 



THE WORLD WAR 87 

by the military authorities to take drastic action. 
This popular watering place has hitherto been 
under the direct patronage of the crown princess of 
Germany, but mixed bathing in what is known as 
"family bath" has been accompanied by such flag- 
rant indecency that the crown princess has hurriedly 
been summoned back to to Potsdam, as "Zoppot is no 
longer a possible place for her imperial highness," 
and the police have taken possession of this principal 
area and put a stop to the bathing. 

Meanwhile a number of men and women belong- 
ing to good German families have been arrested for 
misbehavior of so shameless a character that the 
newspapers have been prohibited from publishing 
the details of the charges beyond the fact that they 
refer to "flagrant and open immorality." 
Whatever the especial teachings of these unclean 
spirits, they are demons, they work miracles, they 
go forth to the kings of the earth inciting them to 
do battle with the great God; and rationalism, 
Theosophy, Free-thinking, Mormonism, Higher 
Criticism, Future Probation, Sinning Religion and 
the whole brood of let down and apologize for a full 
and complete salvation from all sin, have been pav- 
ing the way for the work of this final culmination 
of sin and uncleanness, which is to bring to a climax 
all rebellion against God, and precipitate the great- 
est battle ever known, which will be staged in the 
near future. 

"Behold I am come as a thief, Blessed is he that 
watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk 
naked, and they see his shame. Rev. 16:15. And 
He gathered them together into a place called 
Armageddon.*' Some have asked if this world war 
was not Armageddon, but we fail to see how it can 
be. The present war is the ''beginning of sorrows" 



88 THE WORLD WAR 

it is a quarrel between the nations themselves, but 
Armageddon is a later war and is waged by the 
world against God. The world is not yet ripe for 
a war with God, it is making rapid strides, but not 
yet where its forces could be brought to a prac- 
tically unanimous agreement for such a war. 

We see no better way to understand these won- 
derful upheavals in the forces of nature which are 
recorded in pouring out of the seventh vial, than 
in a literal way, and in absence of better enlighten- 
ment we prefer to so consider them. We believe 
that the thunders, the earthquakes, the division of 
Jerusalem into three parts, together with the ex- 
tensive change in the topography of the earth, the 
great hailstones, (like cakes of ice delivered by the 
ice man weighing a hundred of pounds) are all real 
just as described. At any rate, this vivid and 
awe-striking description of God*s workings, refer to 
nothing that is commonplace, for when we see the 
terrible, and much to be dreaded calamities with all 
their attendant suffering and misery which has been 
brought to pass by men in this present world war, 
what means must an omnipotent God employ to con- 
quer and vanquish all the nations of earth united 
together, aided by the inventions of modem war- 
fare, and augmented by all the further improve- 
ments which may yet come, when they are gathered 
to do Him battle? Some may say that God could 
conquer them with a small worm, doubtless he could, 



THE WORLD WAR 89 

but when he says thunders, earthquakes, hailstorms, 
places and such things we doubt if He means 
worms. 

Seiss says, "Antichrist has taught them to curse 
God and die, and so they curse and blaspheme to 
the last, unsoftened and unchanged by all the ter- 
ribleness of an oncoming perdition. It is by these 
plagues that their earthly existence ends with the 
whole economy of things to which they cling; but 
their last words are curses, and their last breath 
is blasphemy, * * * There is but one explana- 
tion — people do not half believe. They profess to 
receive and honor the Bible, but they do not credit 
what it plainly says. * * * Either they do not 
think at all, * * * or their thinking is secretly, 
if not confessedly, tinged with suspicion that these 
mighty revelations are nothing but unsubstantial 
speculation or doubtful theory. * * * They talk 
of God, but to them He is an impotent God. Con- 
sciously, or unconsciously, their souls are thus in a 
condition of skepticism, which empties the Divine 
Word of all reality to them. * * * What is more 
irrational than rationalism? Is God helpless to ful- 
fil His word because He in nature proves Himself 
Almighty? Hath He made the blunder of binding 
His hands with His own omnipotence? such would 
seem to be the essence of some men's reasoning. 

"Be admonished then. * * * Be sure that God 
is God, and that His word must stand, though 
worlds dissolve. * * * You see what is the end 
that Cometh, you see with what forbearance and 



90 THE WORLD WAR 

mercy the threatened thunderstrokes of death are 
still held back, that men may hear and fear, and 
turn to Him and live. * * * Fix your trust in 
Jesus, and follow and obey Him in sincerity and 
in truth, and when His judgment strikes, it shall 
not harm you." 



CHAPTER X 
The Scarlet Woman. 

We have in the 17th chapter an interesting fig- 
ure to consider. The introduction of this woman 
in this connection is not necessarily in chronologi- 
cal order. She has occupied a place in history 
throughout the entire age, but this is the time of 
her approaching end, hence her introduction here is 
quite proper. She seems — in some mystic way — ^to 
be associated with a city or place, called Babylon. 
"And upon her forehead was a name written, 
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE 
MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS 
OF THE EARTH." Verse 5. 

In the sixth chapter of this book we mentioned 
that in the Bible, the church is frequently typified 
as a woman and concluded that the woman, the 
great wonder in heaven, represents God's church. 
Here we have a different woman, one who presents 
an entirely different appearance. Mr. Seiss notes 
"the evident correlation and contrast between the 
woman pictured here and another woman de- 
scribed in the twelfth chapter.*' The first was seen 
in heaven, this one in a wilderness. Both women 
are mothers: the first brought forth an offspring 
who was caught up to heaven and was to rule all 
nations, but the second "is the mother of harlots 
and of the abominations of the earth." The first 



92 THE WORLD WAR 

is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her 
feet, having her head bedecked with twelve stars; 
she is arrayed in heavenly apparel. The second is 
gorgeously dressed with the adorning of this world, 
purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and 
precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in 
her hand full of abominations and filthiness. Rev. 
17:4. Mr. Seiss remarks that "both are very con- 
spicuous and fill a large place in the history of the 
world. * * * That they are counterparts of each 
other there can hardly be a reasonable doubt. The 
one is a pure woman, the other is a harlot. The 
first is hated by the powers on earth ; the second is 
loved, flattered, and caressed by them. Where one 
has sway, things are heavenly; where the other 
lives, it is wilderness. The one produces mascu- 
line nobility, which is ultimately caught away to 
God and to His throne; the other produces effemi- 
nate impurity, which calls down the fierceness of 
the divine wrath. The one is sustained and helped 
by celestial wings; the other is supported by the 
Dragon power — the (scarlet colored) Beast with 
seven heads and ten horns. * * * .The one finally 
comes out in a heavenly city, made up of imperish- 
able jewels * * * the other finally comes out in 
a city of the world's superlative admiration, which 
suddenly goes down forever under the intense wrath 
of heaven." 

As the Dragon corresponds to God, Antichrist to 
Christ, and the False Prophet to the Holy Ghost, 
each in diabolical opposition and counterfeit of the 



THE WORLD WAR 93 

trinity of heaven; so this Scarlet Woman is the 
counterfeit and bitter opponent of the true church 
of Christ. She is not a new character. Abel met 
her, Christ recognized her in her opposition to Him 
through the apostate Jews, when He declared unto 
them, 

"Behold I send unto you prophets and wise men, 
and Scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and 
crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in 
your synagogues, and persecute them from city to 
city: that upon you may come all the righteous 
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of right- 
eous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharius, * * * 
whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." 
Matt. 23-34, 35. 

Stephen also had an introduction to this 
woman when he preached his first and last sermon 
that is on record. 

This Woman was drunk with the blood of the 
saints and with the blood of martyrs. The bitter- 
est opposition and the persecution and martyrdom 
of the saints of God, has almost invariably been in- 
flicted by apostate religionists, or propagated by 
them. As the Sunclad Woman presents the most 
striking, the most apt and beautiful picture of God's 
church, the Scarlet Woman as fittingly represents 
the false church or the Apostasy. 

We conclude then that this Scarlet Woman repre- 
sents false or counterfeit religions, particularly the 
Apostasy. We doubt, as some able commentators 
have thought, that she represents all the false re- 
ligions, such as Buddhism, Mohammedanism and 
others which do not recognize the God of Heaven 



94 THE WORLD WAR 

and Jesus Christ, although such may be the case; 
but we feel rather that she impersonates those re- 
ligious bodies and persons, who outwardly profess- 
ing to live by God's word and dictum, have fallen 
away, or in other words, who are apostates from 
the true religious faith; therefore for brevity we 
will call her the Apostasy. 

Among Protestants there has long been a theory 
that Catholicism, or the Pope, would be the Anti- 
christ ; but we should disabuse our minds from this 
error. The Antichrist will attract, and command 
people of all religious beliefs together with those of 
no religious connections or professions whatever. 
He will woo and win the whole world to himself, 
and a little careful thought will convince an unpre- 
judiced person that he could not use an established 
creed to the exclusion of all others. He can never 
win the people that way. The Pope cannot make 
many Catholics out of Protestants, for after all these 
years of contention and variance between the two 
factions, it has created too deep and lasting preju- 
dices in their minds to make this an easy matter. 
The literature of both Catholics and Protestants 
abound in matter that would continually arouse and 
fan into life the old opposition, and the Devil, 
should he be shortsighted enough to repeat his 
former attempt to coerce people by burning them at 
the stake, and compelling them by the guillotine and 
the gallows to adopt any established creed now ex- 
tant, we suspect that he would arouse a sentiment 
akin to that of years gone by, when it was said that 



THE WORLD WAR 95 

"the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the 
church." He will work along lines of least resist- 
ance, he will adopt new methods, not putting his 
"new wine into old bottles." He will employ means 
that win people almost universally; this, apostate 
religion has never done. 

But what can attract the carnal minded popu- 
lace almost enmasse? What, of all things, would 
be universally desired by them? The lifting up, 
and magnifying, even deifying, the things of this 
world ; this and nothing else can meet the universal 
demand of a world that has forgotten God. Creeds 
will not answer, empty religious profession will not 
suffice. The carnal man is of the earth and wants 
his soul satisfied with the tangible things of earth, 
embellished of course and garnished with certain 
pomp and ceremony, but he wants the things of the 
world, **the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes 
and the pride of life ;" it is to these that the carnal 
mind looks for its satisfaction, and creeds never 
have met all these requirements and have never been 
popular only in so far as they gave liberty and free- 
dom to indulge these things. One creed has been 
good as another under these circumstances; but 
each one has had to build walls of prejudice against 
all others for its own protection, and therefore no 
creed or present religious cult will answer the pur- 
poses of a world-wide religious campaign to be 
waged by the Antichrist. 

What is the most subtle influence that menaces 
the church (in drawing their people away) at the 



96 THE WORLD WAR 

present time? Do Protestants have trouble to keep 
their people from Catholicism? Does the Catholic 
priest have to keep constant vigil to prevent his 
people from embracing Protestantism? Do Jew- 
ish Rabbis have to stand guard between their 
people and Christianity? No, it is the spirit of the 
world that is enervating and destroying the spirit- 
ual life, the true faith of the people, reaching out 
like a cancer into all the secret avenues of the nat- 
ural man's life, poisoning his affections and de- 
stroying every holy ambition. 

This woman we say is the Apostasy, not the An- 
tichrist, neither is the Antichrist to be a representa- 
tive of any one religious faith extant. Some may 
say, ''If she is the Apostasy, she is the Catholic 
church ;" but that is a mistake. It is true that the 
history of religious movements goes to show that 
they rise and then fall into spiritual decay as they 
increase in years, numbers and wealth, and that the 
Catholic church is the oldest Christian body, the 
wealthiest, and one of the largest in its number of 
communicants, and as far as that goes may better 
represent the Apostasy than any other of the de- 
nominations represented by the Christian religion, 
but we must say to the reader, if you are a back- 
slidden apostate, from the Episcopalian, the Pres- 
byterian, the Methodist Episcopal, the Free Meth- 
odist, Nazarene, or a professor of any creed, having 
once known the way, you belong to the Scarlet Wom- 
an, and throwing stones at your sister will not help 
you. 



THE WORLD WAR 97 

We see her pomposity, her large cathedrals, beau- 
tiful stained glass windows, costly organs, elegant 
perfumed carpets, cushioned pews, her worshippers 
bedecked with gold, diamonds, pearls and costly ar- 
ray, professing to love Christ in humility, while 
their every act gives the lie to their profession. 
They drop a half dollar into the Missionary collec- 
tion and spend thousands on a church edifice; sup- 
porting their lodges, clubs and political organiza- 
tions in the most lavish manner. The kings and 
rulers of the earth flirt with her, courting her for 
the votes she controls and the respectability her en- 
dorsement lends to them ; they cater to her demands 
so far as their political interests seem to require: 
not professing any special religion of their own, 
they can have as many religious paramours as their 
political interests demand, hence they flirt with all 
religious Bodies. 

This Woman looked so attractive to the human 
eye that John "wondered with great admiration,'* 
and who is not naturally attracted and inspired with 
admiration at her imposing appearance, her rich 
paraphernalia, her solemn requiems, noting the 
powerful influence that she exerts? It is enough 
to deceive the most intelligent, until the hollowness 
and sham of the whole thing makes its appearance. 

We are told that she "sitteth upon many waters,'* 
that is, she rests for her support on a multitude 
of peoples. Rev. 17:15. Again it is said that John 
saw her "sit upon a scarlet colored Beast, full of 
names of blasphemy." She rests on the people for 



98 THE WORLD WAR 

her support, but depends on satanic influence and 
power for her inspiration ; probably in this picture 
it includes satan and his associates, or the Anti- 
christian system. This woman has existed for ages ; 
she has been here since AbeFs time, she has rested 
on the people, but sat on the Dragon, adapting her- 
self to the varied requirements of her particular 
work throughout the ages; but now, the Dragon 
power having headed up in the Antichrist, she sits 
on the seven heads, or mountains, or high places of 
which we treated in the chapter on the Antichrist. 
The legislative head, being elective, needs, and gets 
her recognition and help, in return for favors it 
can give. The judicial head must recognize and 
safeguard her interests; the administrative head 
must also court her favor and make a return for 
value received; the militaiy head has always need- 
ed her asistance and gotten it, for which she is 
properly recognized; the mercantile and industrial 
heads are her financial support; and the ecclesias- 
tical head governs, controls, and operates the ma- 
chinery that propels and keeps her going. She is 
pro-Ally in Allied countries and pro-German under 
the Kaiser's ensign; in allied countries she prays 
God to crush the Kaiser and prays for the success 
of his arms where he holds sway. 

The kings or rulers need her power and influ- 
ence and can afford to lend her such support and 
favors as she may reasonably ask for. She sits on 
these seven heads and flirts or commits fornica- 
tion with the ten kings or subrulers. They need her 



THE WORLD WAR 99 

help until there can be a perfect unification in 
thought and purpose affected between them, until 
the influence of the Antichrist has become suffi- 
ciently overwhelming to sway the great majority 
of her subjects, inducing them to endorse his varied 
systems then in vogue. It is then that they dispense 
with her power and influence, obtaining direct, the 
patronage of her people of which they have gradu- 
ally been robbing her; and then presto! no more 
favors for the Scarlet Woman, no more compromise, 
no more flirtation. This is the last barrier to be 
broken down by the Antichrist, the last vestige of 
hindrance to his worship as God, and the last de- 
struction of all that is worshipped. 

These kings come to the place where they have 
"one mind, and shall give their power and strength 
unto the Beast." Heretofore this harlot could hypo- 
critically worship God although they gave their real 
homage, and rendered their best services to Anti- 
christ; but now, after alienating the affections of 
the majority of her people and having won them 
to the Beast, the mandate goes forth to worship 
the Beast only, and the older, stronger devotees of 
the old creeds of the Apostasy, who refuse to bum 
their Bibles, quit their forms and ceremonies and 
efface every vestige of Jehovah worship from their 
temples, turning them aver to the exclusive wor- 
ship of Antichrist, through the bitter hatred of 
these ten kings, — rulers of the ten suzerainties un- 
der the Beast — she will be made desolate and naked, 
her flesh eaten and she is burned with fire. Her 



100 THE WORLD WAR 

property will be confiscated and her adherents will 
be burned at the stake. "For" it is said, "God hath 
put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and give their 
kingdom (the prestige and power they exercised 
over their following) unto the Beast until the words 
of God shall be fulfilled." 

Think of it, reader, when the world is fully ripe 
and the cup of God's indignation is completely fill- 
ed, there will be no spot on earth where God can be 
worshipped, either sincerely or hypocritically. 

Neither the Pope or apostate religion are the 
Antichrist; but the Antichrist and his coworkers 
will vie with the Apostasy — the Scarlet Woman — 
will court her, and flirt, and commit fornication 
with her, until they have used her to their profit and 
satisfaction ; and then like the wicked libertine who 
tires of his prostitute, he leaves her destitute and 
often murders her and throws her lifeless form into 
some place of concealment. "They will eat her flesh 
and burn her with fire," in some way annihilate her 
and destroy her from off the earth. 

Awful picture, but a principle which we have 
known to work in individuals, and will work out in 
this large way at the end of time. It seems strange ; 
it is the mystery of iniquity; it will all come upon 
the world in the most subtle manner; it will come 
so steadily, so gradually, and yet so speedily that 
few will recognize its approach; but come it will, 
and its forerunning principles are already forcibly 
at work. It has been said that you can take a frog 
and put him into a kettle of cold water, put the 



THE WORLD WAR 101 

kettle on the stove and heat it up with a slow fire, 
bringing it gradually to a boiling temperature, cook- 
ing the frog to a turn without producing a kick 
from his f rogship ; we cannot vouch for this state- 
ment, but it is a good illustration of the way that 
the spirit of Antichrist is now stealing upon the 
world, ripening it for God's final judgments. May 
God help us and enable us to see the present begin- 
ning of sorrows and prepare us for the coming 
storms that will follow His already sharp judgment 
messages which are daily occurring. 



CHAPTER XI 
BABYLON 

Commenting on the "Scarlet Woman** in the 
preceding chapter, we said that "in some mystic 
way** she was associated with, or representative of, 
a city. The same is true of the pure Woman, the 
church of Christ. John saw "the holy city, new 
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev. 
21:2. In the 17th and 18th chapters, John sees 
this impure woman sitting on the Dragon, adorned 
— as a popular prostitude — with gaudy apparel, 
gold, precious stones and pearls. 



102 THE WORLD WAR 

As the true worship of God — propagated by the 
pure woman — is to be destroyed from earth by man, 
and finally appears as the new Jerusalem which 
is to stand forever, so the false hypocritical wor- 
ship of God, propagated by the apostasy — ^this Scar- 
let Woman — will be destroyed from the earth arid 
will appear as Babylon, be made desolate, and her 
smoke rise up forever and ever. 

It is difficult to explain, or to understand the tran- 
sition of these types from women to cities, but the 
types are here and must be accepted as presented. 
We note the successive steps of the Scralet Wom- 
an, her presence in the counterfeit hypocritical wor- 
ship of Jehovah in Cain's time and her growth in 
power during the apostasy of Israel and Judah. 
The true worship of God took on a wonderful im- 
petus at pentecost but declined gradually, though 
uplifted at times with great revivals, ending in the 
"falling away," or the Laodecean period in which 
we are now well along toward the midnight hour. 
With evolution, higher criticism and other forms of 
indfidelity undermining the true faith and in equal 
ratio strengthening the Apostasy, she has made 
awful havoc in later years. All this is history 
while prophecy now shows us the picture of a pleas- 
ure loving, money mad, beast worshipping people 
who, satiated with their fornications with the Wom- 
an, have now turned on her; and they eat her flesh 
and burn her with fire ; and, turning from every 
pretense of Jehovah worship — either true or false — 
they revel in fornication with the God of this 



THE WORLD WAR 103 

world impersonated by Babylon and worship the 
Beast. Thus the Woman is transformed into 
"Babylon," a great mercantile center for the whole 
world. 

Again, in contemplating this great city, Baby- 
lon, we turn to "The Lectures on the Apocalypse." 
In that great work, Vol. 3, Lecture 39, the author 
expresses the belief that the world will then have a 
leading center of trade, far greater in magnitude 
than has ever been known. This is a reasonable 
supposition, as the world being practically under 
one world power, it will most naturally settle 
upon some place to be considered its head center, 
or trading mart. Other important places there will 
be, but as New York City is considered the market 
place of the United States— her metropolis — so this 
newly selected city, whether New York, London, or 
some other great trading center, will be considered 
the hub around which the commerce of the world 
will revolve, the spot from which her banking sys- 
tems will radiate, a veritable clearing house for 
trade and commerce. 

Mr. Seiss believes that this place will be real 
Babylon, rebuilt and equipped for business on the 
largest scale ever known. He goes into this predic- 
tion with lengthy arguments, supported with facts 
of history and prophecy which are intensely inter- 
esting and quite convincing, overcoming by facts of 
record and history some of the long established 
opinions that Babylon met in full her predicted fate 
long years ago. But it is not the object of this work 



104 THE WORLD WAR 

to establish or even discuss to any extent the loca- 
tion of places or the identity of persons, but to deal 
more particularly with the types presented, and to 
learn as far as possible what they stand for and the 
principles that they involve. 

Of one thing* we feel quite certain, and that is 
that the conflict of the ages has ever been between 
the true God and the god of this world, or between 
the worship of God and the worship of idols; and 
it grows on us more and more as we write, that the 
final great conflict between the powers of darkness 
and light will be for the turning of the world from 
idols to God. Not the wood and stone images such 
as were worshipped in the earlier period of the 
world's history, but the more improved idols, the 
works of men's hands, the development of the com- 
bined wisdom of men from the beginning of time. 
These things are wonderful ; they are good in and of 
themselves for man's use, but when God is left out 
as supreme in the affections for the guidance and 
direction of men, and these things usurp God's place, 
they become a delusion and a snare and damn men's 
souls. 

Why do we hear so much about preparation to 
secure world trade after the war? We read recently 
that Germany is already in preparation for that 
event, is building great numbers of large ships, ex- 
pending billions of dollars in their construction. 
Our newspapers and magazines abound in articles 
relating to this matter. The dollar getting dis- 
temper is now prevalent to an alarming extent, but 



THE WORLD WAR 105 

we predict that it will be epidemic when this war 
closes. 

We are not, as stated, attempting here to locate 
the center of the money power — this Babylon — ^we 
know no language with which to describe our con- 
ception of what it will be in its essence, so appropri- 
ate and to the point as that used by Mr. Seiss to 
describe the ideal which he has in his mind of the 
real present site where he avers the new Babylon 
will appear. We quote, "With a world-wide com- 
mercial organization thus established on its own 
base, with the great mercantile houses of England 
and her colonies, of the Americas, of the other 
countries lining the Mediterraneum, of the maritime 
and monetary centers everywhere, represented in 
corresponding houses there ; with the ships and pas- 
sengers in ships, congregating in and about the 
Euphrates as the central exchange of the world ; and 
with the gold-kings, money-lords, and merchant 
princes of the earth, thus combined without regard 
to creeds or nationalities in the one great interest 
of regulating and managing the commerce of the 
globe, it is easy to see how every feature in the 
Apocalyptic picture of Babylon would be filled out. 
* " '"• The city would thus be clothed in fine 
linen, and purple, and scarlet ; and decked with gold, 
and precious stones and pearls; creating a market 
for the skill and most excellent products of the 
whole world ; enriching artisans, ship-masters, ship- 
owners, ship-senders, and all the traders in all these 
things in all nations. * * * The purse strings of 



106 THE WORLD WAR 

the nations would thus be in the hands of a uni- 
versal independent power, whose ban would be 
worse than the Pope's edicts of excommunication in 
the middle ages; and to make war with it would 
be to make war with the allied world. All the kings 
of the earth would thus necessarily become partici- 
pant in everything belonging to the system, the 
very organization of which is the utter negation of 
all distinctive creeds, and the complete abrogation 
of all religious and moral laws which stand in the 
way of its purpose. 

"And thus also the old harlotry would necessarily 
be the chief spirit of the whole thing. Zealous 
and earnest worshippers there would needs be, but 
a worship concentrated upon the *ephah' and the 
'talent;' a worship which makes temples of banks 
and warehouses, and exchanges, and pleasure-parks ; 
a worship not of the sun, or moon, or stars, or 
emperors, or popes, but of pounds, and francs, and 
piastres, and dollars; the worship of Mammon per- 
fected, and overriding and supplanting all other de- 
votions; the perpetuation and crown of the great 
moral defilement of the ages, only taking to the 
soul's embrace and into the place of God the meaner 
object which the divine word stigmatizes as 'filthy 
lucre.' Covetousness is idolatry, and a form of it 
which is the root of all evil ; and here will be covet- 
ousness, deep-wrapped in the embracing arms of 
its god, and dazing and defiling the world with the 
glory and grandeur of its abominations." 

To leave this subject right here would hardly 



THE WORLD WAR 107 

cover all that we desire to quote from Mr. Seiss re- 
garding this worship of the Woman under her new 
title of "Babylon." We therefore turn back to the 
fortieth lecture, third volume, and quote again. 
"Another ingredient in the cup of Babylon's doom 
is her bewitching sorcery, by which she leads all 
nations astray. Some understand by this that she 
is to be a great patron and head center of spiritism 
and necromancy, * * * that a goodly share of her 
wisdom and policy and influence will come from 
familiar intercourse with demons and unclean 
teachings. But it does not seem to me that this 
touches the nerve of what is here called scorcery. 
The great preponderating idea which runs through 
the whole description is that of commercial great- 
ness, success, and power, and the potent and con- 
taminating sorcery must be something which is 
naturally construable with this— some bewitching 
attractiveness going along with a mercantile system 
and drawing after it the admiration and sympathy 
of the world. Meretricious allurement, gathering 
around it the homage of governments and kings, is 
the idea." 

"It is hardly possible to separate traffic and 
especially great commercial combinations and 
schemes, from covetousness, which is idolatry. But 
naked covetousness is not attractive. * * * When 
the possession of wealth is made the final end, when 
it is treasured in the coffer and not expended, or 
when means disreputable are adopted for its attain- 
ment, the pursuit of riches is regarded with dis- 



108 THE WORLD WAR 

dain. * * * To array it in honorable garb, to 
dignify it, to make it appear good and praiseworthy, 
so that men may love, bless, and follow it as some- 
thing noble and beneficent — ^this is what calls for 
the magician's wand and the wizard's power. And 
here is where Great Babylon's delusive witchery 
comes in. If a godless and unscrupulous conunerce 
can be made to appear as the great and only avail- 
ing civilizer; if it can show its end to be * * * 
the prosperity of nations and peoples; if its office 
is the development of the resources of the whole 
earth, and for that end visits every land and trav- 
erses every sea; if it is really the great stimulant 
to intellectual effort, the helper of science, the pro- 
curer and disseminator of all useful intelligence, 
the rewarder of inventive genius and engineering 
skill, the self-sacrificing handmaid of all social, 
moral and legislative improvement; if it is not the 
mere possession of wealth for its own sake, but 
to secure the beneficent power, and influence and 
glory to result from its wise and proper employment 
that makes up the end and aim of its endeavors, 
then will the ugliness of avarice be avoided; bitter 
will have been made sweet; and all attendant de- 
flections from right and truth swallowed up in the 
grandeur, and beauty, and beneficences of its pur- 
poses. The demon of covetousness would then have 
become an angel of light. A halo of glory would 
encircle its head. Kings and governments would 
cheerfully become its nurses and patrons. * * * 
The apostles and prophets of this world^s progress 



THE WORLD WAR 109 

would clap their hands and shout over its success, 
and myriads would celebrate its triumph as the 
ushering in of the long-dreamed millennium. And 
here is the sorcery with which Great Babylon leads 
all nations astray." 

Reader, regardless of its location, or waiving if 
you please the question of whether Babylon repre- 
sents any spot or place, it certainly does represent 
a world-wide system accessory to the Antichrist, 
and paramount in importance to any other. We 
further believe that Mr. Seiss has drawn a true 
pen picture of this system which we have presented 
here. 

''Love not the world, neither the things that are 
in the world. If any man love the world, the love 
of the Father is not in him." 1st John 2:15. What 
then, would be more efficacious as a means of sup- 
planting the love of God in men's hearts than this 
Great Babylon system. Indeed what is a more po- 
tent factor than the love of the world, in accom- 
plishing that very thing today? 

This (the time just preceding Great Babylon's 
fall) will be a time when the gospel seed, sown by 
the angel host, will find the careless and indifferent 
— ^the wayside hearers — more speedily dissipated 
than ever; when spineless characters will be more 
plentiful than ever ; and when they will more easily 
succumb to persecution, the persecutions doubtless 
being also more severe than ever known before; 
and the thorny ground hearers, having many more 
and much greater opportunities to "get rich quick," 



no THE WORLD WAR 

the word will speedily be "choked" in their hearts, 
thus preparing the way for the "abomination of 
desolation'' spoken of by the prophet Daniel. 

Reader, if our writing will cause you to stop and 
think, we have attained a good object; if it will 
cause you to seriously consider, and fortify yourself 
against the onrushing flood of worldliness, self- 
seeking and infidelity, it will have done much more : 
if it will cause you then to watch and pray, having 
your vessel replenished and full of oil, it will be 
the blessing of the ages to you and an incalculable 
benediction to the author himself. 

Her Fall 

"And after these things I saw another angel 
come down from heaven, having great power; and 
the earth was lightened with his glory. And he 
cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Babylon the 
great is fallen." Rev. 18:1, 2. 

It is a fact of history that seasons of great pros- 
perity have been followed by seasons of great de- 
pression ; and it is reasonable to expect that the un- 
paralleled prosperity of Great Babylon — ^backed 
though it will be with the wealth, the patronage, 
and the enthusiastic support of the kings of the 
earth, the great merchants and the money lords — 
will meet with a reverse; and as her great pros- 
perity is the culminating achievement of all mercan- 
tile successes of all the world powers throughout 
the age, so her downfall will be the lowermost fall, 
the final panic that this age will see. 

The lords of earth see in her fall a great catas- 



THE WORLD WAR 111 

trophe. Just what 'precipitates this crash is not 
clear to the writer's mind, but we know that any 
crisis which will undermine faith and destroy the 
confidence of those who hold the purse strings of 
the world will precipitate a panic, even if the cause 
was merely imaginary. Whatever the cause in this 
case, it comes suddenly, for the prediction is, "her 
plagues shall come in one day." We are told that 
there will be mourning and famine and an utter 
burning with fire, "for strong is the Lord God who 
judgeth her." 

This catastrophe may be caused by earthquakes, 
tidal waves, or the raining of fire from heaven as 
the destruction of Sodom ; whatever it is, coming so 
suddenly, it must be from the hand of God. The 
kings of the earth bewail her and stand afar off 
fearing lest they be partakers in her torment, and 
the merchants of the earth mourn and weep over 
her ; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. 
This confirms our opinion that this great mercantile 
system of the world will be centered in some large 
city; her gold — the monetary standard^ — ^will be 
hoarded there, and when the crash comes, billion- 
aires made penniless in a day, with credit utterly 
destroyed, "no man buying their merchandise any 
more ;" there will be a world-wide panic such as the 
world has never seen. 

"The merchandise of gold, and silver, and pre- 
cious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, 
and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all 
manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of 
most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and 
marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, 



112 THE WORLD WAR 

and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, 
and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and 
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men, and the fruits 
that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, 
and all things which were dainty and goodly are 
departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no 
more at all. 

"The merchants of these things, which were made 
rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of 
her torment, weeping and wailing. And saying, 
Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine 
linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, 
and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour 
so great riches has come to nought. And every 
shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sail- 
ors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and 
cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, say- 
ing what city is like unto this great city! And they 
cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and 
wailing, saying Alas, alas, that great city, wherein 
were made rich all that had ships in the sea by 
reason of her costliness ! for in one hour she is made 
desolate." Rev. 18:12-19. 

But a different sound emanates from heaven at 
this time; its inhabitants are commanded to "Re- 
joice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles 
and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.'' 
Thon follows that fearful sentence whereby she is 
completely annihilated off the earth forever. Oh 
reader, can we not see how God holds this world in 
estimation and profit ourselves by it? 



CHAPTER XII 
Christ's Kingdom, and the Marriage of the 

Lamb 

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great mul- 
titude, and as the voice of many waters, and as 
the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: 
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Kev. 19:6. 

At this period of John's vision on Patmos we 
have seen the judgment seals broken, the trumpets 
have been sounded, the rapture has taken place, the 
Antichrist and the False Prophet have arisen, the 
Scarlet Woman and Great Babylon have met their 
fate, and now the reign of Christ together with the 
marriage of the Lamb is about to take place. The 
final consummation of his complete victory is not 
yet accomplished. His judgments have been fearful ; 
yet they have been inflicted with a longsuffering, 
"watchful waiting'* patience, which has been re- 
markable, extending to the most hardened an oppor- 
tunity to repent if they would; hence the voice of 
"much people in heaven, saying. Alleluia ; salvation, 
and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord 
our God, for true and righteous are his judgments; 
for he hath judged the great whore, which did cor- 
rupt the earth with her fornications, and hath 
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." Rev. 
19:1, 2. 

This corresponds with our description of the 
rider on the white horse in the breaking of the first 



114 THE WORLD WAR 

seal. Far from representing a great revival along 
the lines of a gospel preached in humility, as has 
been advocated by scores of the earlier commenta- 
tors, this rider when loosed, introduced judgment 
messages, a gospel preached with wars, famines, 
pestilences, plagues, revolutions, accompanied with 
great convulsions in the forces of nature produc- 
ing the most fearful calamities that ever visited the 
human race. A gospel by force, typified by the bow, 
a gospel of conquest and rulership, typified by the 
bow and crown. It was carried on a white horse, 
typifying speedy justice but righteous judgments. 
"For true and righteous are thy judgments." 

There is a time when patience ceases to be a 
virtue, when forbearance must cease. To decide 
when and where that time appears is not left to 
finite beings, for "vengeance is mine, I will repay 
saith the Lord." Instead of intrusting such im- 
portant matters to poor fallible human beings, God 
has wisely held this power in his own hands to be 
executed when in his infinite wisdom he sees fit. 
Although the truth that God*s judgments shall fall, 
and fall in awful severity on the wicked is very 
apparent, wicked men go on sinning against God; 
and some misguided religionists are preaching God's 
mercy at the expense of his justice, conceiving, and 
giving birth to such heresies as Universal salvation. 
Christian Scientism, soul-sleeping annihilation, and 
a horde of other isms, all of which give the lie to 
the truth so freqently iterated and so clearly taught 



THE WORLD WAR 115 

in the Bible, including the passage under consider- 
ation here. 

In this lesson we are informed that "The Lord 
omnipotent reigneth/' When the seventh trumpet 
sounded, it was announced in anticipation, "The 
kingdoms of this world are become our Lord's and 
his Christ's, and he shall reign forever and ever." 
Mr. Seiss says in this connection that, "It does not 
mean the leavening of existing governments with 
Christian principles, the spiritual conversion of 
countries and empires, leaving them in existence and 
simply Christianizing them so as to exhibit some- 
thing of Christ's spirit in their administrations ; but 
the total displacement of all this world's sovereigns 
and governments, the taking of all dominion and 
authority out of their hands, and putting it in the 
hands of Christ, as the true and only king of the 
world. And the actual assumption of this rulership of 
the earth in the place and stead of existing govern- 
ments and lordships is what the song of praise to God 
here so mightily celebrates, *As a voice of much mul- 
titude, as voice of many waters, and as a voice of 
mighty thunders,' comes forth the grand 'Alleluia, 
because the Lord God, the All-ruler , hath assumed 
the kingdom;' that is, has himself entered upon the 
actual administration of the sovereignty and gov- 
ernment of the world. * * * What is the crown 
and consummation of that prayer which the Lord 
Jesus put upon the lips and into the hearts of all 
his followers when he said, pray, 'Thy kingdom 
come?' Does it mean no more than that our own 



116 THE WORLD WAR 

hearts may be thoroughly subdued to our Maker, 
purged of idolatry and lust, purified by the Holy 
Ghost? * * * That might be, and yet the earth 
be crushed with misrule, tyranny, corruption, and 
oppression. Does it simply mean that the church 
may be ever dear and faithful to God, its ministers 
multiplied, its membership increased, its Scriptures 
distributed, its faith kept pure? * * * That 
might all be and the world still be to her a valley 
of Baca, a Bochim, a wilderness of sorrow and hard- 
ship. Does it mean only the removal of what 
hinders the preaching and belief of the Gospel, or 
the progress of faith and piety in the individual and 
in the world? That might also be and still God's 
kingdom be no nearer than it is at present. When 
Isaiah prophesied of Christ, he said, 'The govern- 
ment shall be upon his shoulder; of the increase of 
his government and peace there shall be no end.' 
Is. 9 :6, 7. When the Holy Ghost explained the mean- 
ing of the all crushing stone in Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream, which broke to atoms the whole statue of 
worldly power and dominion, took its place and 
filled the whole earth, the word was, this is the 
kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up, 
which shall break in pieces and consume all other 
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Dan. 3 : 32-45. 
* * * When Gabriel announced to Mary the 
child to be bom of her, he said : *He shall be great, 
and shall be called the son of the Highest, and the 
Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob 



THE WORLD WAR 111 

forever, and of his kingdom, there shall be no end/' 
Luke 1:26-33. When he himself was among men, 
because some 'thought that the kingdom of God 
should immediately appear,' he spake a parable and 
said that the matter is as a nobleman 'going into 
a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and 
to return,' Luke 19:11-13. * * * And so again 
he said: 'When the Son of Man shall come in his 
glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall 
he sit in the throne of his glory,' Matt. 25 :31." 

We assume, therefore, that here is the place 
the Lord of lords and King of kings shall take up 
the rulership of the whole world, never to lay it 
down again, but introduced right here, is the mar- 
riage of the Lamb. 

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to 
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and 
his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was 
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, 
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteous- 
ness of saints. And he saith unto me, write, Blessed 
are they which are called unto the marriage supper 
of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the 
true sayings of God." Rev. 19:7, 8, 9. 

Regarding the identity of the Bridegroom, we 
believe that there is little controversy, it being gen- 
erally recognized and taught plainly in the Scrip- 
tures that Christ is the future husband of the wait- 
ing Bride. St. Paul tells us that "Christ also loved 
the church, and gave himself for it; that he might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water 
by the word ; that he might present it to himself a 
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 



118 THE WORLD WAR 

such thing." Concluding, **So ought men to love 
their wives, * * * This is a great mystery: but 
I speak concerning Christ and the church." Eph. 
5:25, 26, 27 and 32. 

This Scripture alone would clearly indicate that 
Christ is the Bridegroom and that the church is 
the Bride, which we think is the generally accepted 
theory, being quite commonly held that the Bride 
constitutes all the church, or rather, all those who 
through perseverance, enduring to the end are 
saved. This has given rise to some divergence of 
opinion as to who these special ones are that are 
included in the Bridehood, consigning all others of 
course to perdition. It has been quite a bone of con- 
tention especially among those who have assumed 
to ascend to the judgment seat, undertaking in ad- 
vance the difficult task of separating the sheep from 
the goats; but we doubt if the work of these self- 
appointed judges will stand; we feel that they are 
standing on slippery places when they assume a 
work of such importance, requiring infinite knowl- 
edge and skill. 

But regardless of these or any other teachers, 
does the real Bride include all of the real church 
or not? In this connection we will again quote at 
some length from Mr. Seiss' "Lectures on the Apoc- 
alypse." 

"Who is the Bride?*' Upon first blush the an- 
swer would be, the Lord's true and faithful people, 
all who by faith and obedience were affianced to 
him and continued faithful to the end. In a gen- 



THE WORLD WAR 119 

eral way this answer may be accepted as the truth, 
but in a narrower and closer view of things it can- 
not be taken as strictly and absolutely correct. The 
45th Psalm unmistakably refers to this subject. The 
qualities and doings of the King, come forth from 
the ivory palaces, are there described with great 
vigor and animation. But there is also the Queen, 
the King's Bride, standing on his right hand, in 
gold of Ophir, and all glorious within. It is said 
of her that "she shall be brought unto the King in 
raiment of needle-work." But, besides the Queen, 
the King's Bride, there is another blessed company, 
who are also to enter with rejoicing into the King's 
palace and to share the light of his countenance. 
They are called "the virgins," the "companions," as- 
sociates, and bosom friends of the Queen, but plainly 
distinct from the Queen herself. They do not go 
with her when she is taken, but 'follow her,' — come 
after her — and are 'brought unto the King' at a 
subsequent time and in quite another capacity from 
that of the Queen and Bride. All of them belong 
to the general congregation of the saved. All of 
them are made forever happy in their Lord, the 
King. But the Queen is one class, and the 'virgins 
her companions that follow her,' are another class. 

So, too, in the Song of Solomon (6:8, 9), we 
read of Queens, concubines, and virgins, whom the 
fathers, for the most part, understood as referring 
to the various classes which make up the church 
as a whole. 

The parable of the Ten Virgins tells of a com- 



120 THE WORLD WAR 

ing Bridegroom and of friends of the Bride going 
out, as in ancient custom, to meet and welcome him 
and to go in with him to the marriage; but where 
is the Bride? Both the connection and the terms 
of this parable imply that she is already within the 
Father's house, there awaiting the coming of the 
Bridegroom, whilst these her friends go out to meet 
him — ^not in hope of becoming his Bride — ^but of 
having the blessedness of going in with him to the 
marriage. * * * 

It is also the common doctrine of the Scriptures 
that there are great diversities in the portions 
awarded to the saints. There are some greatest 
and some least in the kingdom of heaven. There 
are some who shall be first and some who shall be 
last. There are some who get crowns, and there 
are some who get none. There are some who are 
assigned dominion over ten cities, some over five, 
and some who lose all reward, and are saved only 
'so as by fire.' * * * Diversities so great are in- 
compatible with the peculiar honors and regality 
of the wife of a king. * * * She has her atten- 
dants — 'virgins which follow her.' They make up 
her company and train. In coming to wed her the 
Bridegroom comes also into near and close relation 
to them. To a blessed degree they share the Bride's 
honors. And in general terms we must include 
them when we speak of the Bride; although, in 
strict language, they are not all the Bride. The 
Bride has relations to the Bridegroom which belong 
to her alone; and it is only because of her and 



THE WORLD WAR 121 

their association and companionship with her and 
not because they are the Bride in actual fact, that 
the whole company of the saved Church of God is 
contemplated as the Lamb's Wife. 

Hence, also, the angel directed John to write, 
'Blessed they who have been called to the supper 
of the marriage of the Lamb.' It is the wider and 
more general blessedness of the occasion that the 
seer was thus to attest. If all the saved were actu- 
ally the Bride, it would have been enough and more 
to the point, to say, 'Blessed they that are called to 
be the Wife of the Lamb.' But there is a blessed- 
ness of being called to witness his marriage and a 
blessedness of participation with the bridal company 
on the marriage banquet, as well as a more special 
blessedness of being the actual Bride of the Lamb. 
* * * The blessedness of the marriage supper is much 
wider than that of becoming the Bride, though the 
Bride has honor and nearness to the Lord which be- 
long to her only. Hence the writing was to be not 
simply 'Blessed are they that are called to be the 
Wife of the Lamb,' but 'blessed are they who are 
called to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb' — 
called as in the marriage of the king's son, which 
call includes the opportunity to becom-e the Bride as 
well as the happy guests." 

That there is food for thought in the extensive 
exegesis which Mr. Seiss gives on this subject there 
can be no question of doubt. Reading the 24th and 
25th chapters of the gospel of St. Matthew, one is 
constrained to note that Christ gives a terse, but 



122 THE WORLD WAR 

clear statement of the taking away of the Bride in 
the 24th chapter, showing that one will be taken 
from the field, another from grinding at the mill, 
and in the other gospels it speaks of one being 
taken from the bed, ending with a description of 
the fate of those who will be found dissipating and 
not looking for their Lord. The 25th chapter opens 
auspiciously with these words, *Then shall the king- 
dom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which 
took their lamps and went forth to meet the bride- 
groom." This statement can of course, be taken 
as a reiteration of the same truth, put in another 
way as that contained in the 24th chapter, and yet 
— if borne out by other Scriptures — can very con- 
sistently be taken to introduce another class of 
saints not included in those mentioned in the 24th 
chapter. 

Why did the Master say "ten," why not seven, 
or seventy, or an indefinite number? 

The writer has long entertained the thought that 
,these ten virgins, in some way represented a con- 
tingent from the lost ten tribes of Israel and were 
in no way representative of the same company 
spoken of in the 24th chapter. If the reader will 
take a concordance and look up the references in the 
Old and New Testaments, he will be somewhat 
surprised to see how frequently God's Israel is 
spoken of as the virgin of Israel ; and then to study 
into the root meaning of the word "virgin," he 
would find that it carries the idea of something hid- 
den, covered, not seen and known by the minds eye. 



THE WORLD WAK 123 

If, as some able writers have contended, the lost 
tribes or their decendants, are right among us, al- 
though hidden from our vision as to their identity, 
it is quite possible that in some way they may be 
included in the rapture in a different manner than 
that of the real gentile race. This, however, is too 
deep water for the writer to find a sure footing, so 
he simply passes it on for your consideration only. 
It is certain that the marriage of the Lamb occurs 
here at this point, after the rapture has taken place, 
after the overthrow of the Scarlet Woman and 
Great Babylon, and just before the treading of the 
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
God. Whether this marriage supper takes place be- 
fore or simultaneously with the great suppper of the 
great God, where all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
heaven are invited to eat the flesh of the kings, cap- 
tains and mighty men, we are not clear; and we see 
no reason why it should be a matter of any concern. 
That one will take place in heaven and the other on 
earth, we have little doubt; that one will be an occa- 
sion of the greatest bliss to those who partake of it, 
and the other an occasion of the greatest sorrow and 
shame to its participants is clear and unmistakable 
to any one who reads and believes the word of God. 
Let us then see to it that we are privileged to par- 
take of the first, by earnestly striving to avoid be- 
ing caught in the net of satan and be doomed to a 
part in the second. 



CHAPTER XIII 
Battle of God Almighty and the Millennium 

We are now confronted with one of the most 
difficult portions of Revelation. The rebellion of 
a sin-loving, God-hating, beast-worshipping people 
has reached its climax. "The kings of the earth set 
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, 
against the Lord." They have "heaped treasure to- 
gether for the last days, * * * have lived in 
pleasure on the earth, and been wanton ; have nour- 
ished their hearts as in a day of slaughter,'' as 
James declared they would do. They have ruled 
with a high hand, but "in one day" the work of 
their hands and brain has come to nought and their 
hopes have been dashed to the ground by the de- 
struction of Great Babylon. These people who re- 
fused to recognize God, having expended their en- 
ergies and exhausted every resource of their fertile 
brains in the perfection of the most gigantic, the 
most alluring world-wide system of trade and com- 
merce ever known, they see their great wealth 
which they have invested in this undertaking all 
destroyed, their extensive plans frustrated, and the 
great idol which they have set up, demolished. 

In spite of the severe chastisements they have 
received at God's hand, and in spite of their signal 
defeat and consequent humiliation at Armageddon, 
in wrath and desperation they now prepare to make 



THE WORLD WAR 125 

war with the Lamb. How human beings, dwelling 
in the flesh, can enter into battle with spiritual be- 
ings, is not clear to this writer's mind, it is be- 
yond his power of description, hence we must con- 
tent ourselves with the bare statement of facts as it 
appears in the written Word. 

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white 
horse; and he that sat uuon him was called Faithful 
and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and 
make war. 

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head 
were many crowns; and he had a name written, that 
no man idriew, but he himself. 

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in 
blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 

And the armies which were in heaven followed 
him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white 
and clean. 

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that 
with it he should smite the nations; and he shall 
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the 
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
God. 

And he had on his vesture and on his thigh a 
name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF 
LORDS. 

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he 
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that 
fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather your- 
selves together imto the supper of the great God; 

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh 
of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the 
flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and 
the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small 
and great." Rev. 19:11-18. 

That an awful slaughter ensues there can be no 
doubt. Other writers have assumed to describe this 
terrible battle and explain it in detail, but these 
writers rarely agree, hence their dessertations must 
be taken with considerable allowance. By what 



126 THE WORLD WAR 

means the contending parties engage in battle we 
do not know, but it is evident that huge armies are 
gathered to the conflict, and that a scene of carnage 
and bloodshed occurs which has no parallel; one 
which the human mind could not describe, or hardly 
grasp if it was described. In fact, the inspired Seer 
gives only an outline description of the terrible 
scene. 

There is much that could be written specula- 
tively on this momentous subject, but it would not 
answer the purpose of this book. We see here the 
final bitter assault of a fearfully wicked, disappoint- 
ed maddened crowd of humanity, in their desperate 
attempt of rebellion against a beneficent God, who, 
in longsuffering forbearance has stretched forth his 
hand in pleading, in reasoning, in invitation, and in 
every way by solicitation, by threats, by correction 
and chastisements, has endeavored to turn them 
from their mad career and rescue them from 
their inevitable doom; but as it was in the 
days of Christ, **they would not," and have now 
gathered themselves for the great and last battle 
of defiant flesh against their maker. One man may 
stand and defy God, societies have even banded to- 
gether to blaspheme his name, and he seemingly 
takes no notice of it! but here is the consummation 
of man's rebellion, his last and final challenge, a 
world represented, a people who have given them- 
selves over to a "strong delusion," they are here ar- 
rayed for their last eflfort, the final decisive battle 
of the age. We cannot understand how it will be 



THE WORLD WAR 127 

conducted, but we can understand in a measure the 
spirit which prompts it and the results which fol- 
low. 

As an indication of the results which are to fol- 
low, John sees an angel standing in the sun and 

**he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls 
that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great 
god; 

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh 
of captains, and the flesh of mighty men," etc. 

We have two great suppers announced, but oh 
how diverse in character. One, the marriage sup- 
per of the Lamb, the other the supper of the great 
God. One to be an occasion of greatest joy and 
bliss, forerunner of eternal blessings in heaven ; the 
other the feasting of birds — Vultures — on the bodies 
of the slain thousands of earth's rebellious host, 
forerunner of an eternal existence, accompanied 
with the deepest woe in hell. May God help us all 
that we may not be deceived and drawn into this 
maelstrom of worldliness which is sweeping almost 
everything before it in these last critical days of the 
world's existence. 

As the purposes of this book is to point out the 
signs of the times in which we now live, and to 
divine as near as possible the future trend of things 
up to the end of the age, we shall not enter very 
deeply into a discussion of the millennium which 
now follows. The casting out of the Antichrist and 
False Prophet into the lake of fire, thus ending for- 
ever their machinations on earth, and the laying 



128 THE WORLD WAR 

hold of Satan or the Dragon, and binding him in 
Hades — ^the bottomless pit — are simply plain state- 
ments of facts, and such facts are always clouded 
and obscured when one undertakes to comment up- 
on, or explain them. The simplest child's mind can 
better comprehend these statements than the wise- 
acres who attempt to explain how they are done: 
we mean by this that the simple child mind can be- 
lieve God, that he says what he means, and means 
what he says and he does not care how God does 
the work, he is contented to know that it is done, 
and he gets at the truth, while the scholar and wise 
man filters it through his finite reasoning powers 
until he has but little left but the figment of his own 
brain. 

The Beast and the False Prophet are disposed of 
forever, so far as this earth and its activities are 
concerned, but the Dragon — Satan — is "hound" 
kept in leash, where he can do no harm or exert any 
influence whatever, on either humanity, or spirit- 
ual beings, for a thousand years. We expect that 
the whole brood of demon spirits are locked up with 
him although the Word does not definitely say so, 
but his work is stopped, and that implies strongly 
that his co-workers are suppressed, doubtless in the 
bottomless pit with him. This is what God wants 
us to understand, that this earth with its inhabi- 
tants, are to enjoy a period of one thousand years, 
ruled by Jesus Christ and his chosen assistants, be- 
ing untrammelled, unhindered, and free from so- 
licitations to evil, by either the arch enemy of man- 



THE WORLD WAR 129 

kind or his assistants. This is what has been known 
for years as "the Millennium," the word meaning 
one thousand. 

The word of God is brief concerning this mil- 
lennium period. 

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls 
of themx that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, 
and for the word of God, and which had not wor- 
shipped the beast, neither his image, neither had re- 
ceived his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years." Rev. 20:4. 

Mr. Seiss found tribulation saints or mar- 
tyrs, under the altar in the breaking of the 
fifth seal; we took exception to that conclusion 
for it presented — without necessity for doing 
so — that scene out of its proper order, a point 
against which, in other places, Mr. Seiss well takes 
a stand and contends for it. We said in that con- 
nection, that we felt that the world had already 
made enough martyrs, to form a good sized praying 
band in heaven, and that there was no reason to 
consider these supplicants under the altar, as any 
other than those who had been slain in the past, but 
if we are looking for tribulation martyrs, we find 
them right here. These had been beheaded for the 
witness of Jesus and for the word of God, subse- 
quent to the rapture of the Bride of Christ, for 
their martyrdom had occurred during the reign of 
Antichrist and the False Prophet, having refused 
to worship him, or to have his mark in their hands 
or in their foreheads. There is only one way to 



130 THE WORLD WAR 

support false theories here, and propagate erron- 
eous conclusions, and that is by making a hodge- 
podge of the book of Revelation, shifting the scenes 
that are to occur from place to place, to suit pre- 
conceived ideas, and fit into the cob houses of human 
conclusions which are being built. We insist that 
there is only one way to read Revelation correctly 
and intelligently, and that is, to read it as we would 
any other book, believing that God has made it as 
intelligible as possible, and has used as good sense 
as men would use in compiling their work. 
What would we think of an author who would write 
a history of the world, intermingling items of anci- 
ent, mediaeval, and modem history indiscriminately 
together? we have heard of clowns and comedians 
who do this to make sport, they would tell you of 
Abraham Lincoln commanding the sun and moon 
to stand still while he drove the French back at 
Waterloo: how that general Grant came over in 
the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock, proceeded 
to Boston, threw the tea overboard, and then dic- 
tated terms of "unconditional surrender" to Alex- 
ander the Great, but it is little less than sacri- 
ligious to assume that God ever inspired John the 
Revelator to write this last great book of his Bible 
in that way. 

Some things are mentioned anticipative of what 
is to come; as an illustration, the angel announces 
that "the kingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." Rev. 
11:15. It is easy to see that this was spoken in an- 



THE WORLD WAR 131 

ticipation of what was surely to come as the fact 
is not realized until after the great battle of God 
Almighty in the 19th chapter, but the final victory 
was as much a matter of fact to the heavenly host 
then, as it was at its consummation. We frequently 
hear the remark that we have the Kaiser whipped, 
but this remark is made anticipatively although its 
final realization is doubtless near at hand. 

It is equally true that some things cover long 
periods of time, so that their introduction here has 
to be considered as not only present tense, but 
retrospective as well, for instance, both the sun-clad 
woman, and the scarlet woman have existed for 
ages, each in different spheres, and under different 
conditions to which they adapted themselves, yet 
always representing the same eternal principles 
which form and shape their characters. But these 
facts do not warrant mixing up the breaking of the 
seals with the sounding of the trumpets, or con- 
fusing the woes which accompany the trumpets 
with the vials of wrath which are poured out, nor 
do they offer an excuse, or liberty to drag the seals 
or trumpets over into the 17th, 18th and 19th chap- 
ters and back again at will, in order to fit in with 
the befuddled exegesis of some ancient writers who 
were doing the best that they could at their dis- 
tance from the time of the end, nor should we do it 
to maintain some old tradition of the fathers. 

God gave us this book, had it written in as 
orderly and as rational manner as possible. There 
can be no doubt that John saw these things trans- 



132 THE WORLD WAR 

pire in consecutive order as they were to appear 
when the time came for their fulfillment, and that 
he wrote them down in exactly the order he saw 
them ; and until we discard our human wisdom and 
get down to the humility of childhood, put our tra- 
ditions and preconceived ideas in the waste basket 
and read the book of Revelation in simplicity for 
ourselves, it will be a sealed book to us. Thinking 
that we must expect a world-wide revival under a 
preached gospel, to occur at the breaking of the 
first seal, this writer groped in darkness through 
the chapters of this blessed book for years; it was 
sealed to him; and the confusion of the learned 
writers on the book, only added to his perplexity, 
but when he saw the unmistakeable signs of the 
breaking of the second and third seals in the pres- 
ent world war, he laid his preconceived ideas and 
commentaries on the rubbish heap, humbly asking 
God to show him what this first seal meant, and it 
became plain and the Revelation of Jesus Christ 
given to John on Patmos became a new book. 

In closing this chapter, we feel constrained to 
write a little further regarding the millennium. We 
admit that what we write must be somewhat specu- 
lative, but we will point out a few difficulties which 
we have met, and will make a few suggestions which 
may, or may not help the reader. Some take the 
ground that not a living soul will be spared at the 
final close of this dispensation, that the saints will 
all be in heaven and that all the unsaved will be 
destroyed, and that the world will be inhabited dur- 



THE WORLD WAR 133 

ing the millennium period by the raptured saints 
who will return to the earth. But the raptured 
saints are to rule the world at that time or during 
that period, and if they are the sole occupants, over 
whom will they reign? 

The Word tells us that Satan will be loosed for 
a little time when the thousand years have expired, 
"And shall go out to deceive the nations which are 
in the four quarters of the earth," and we learn 
that this deception will work, that he will again 
marshall a mighty host to fight against God, that 
fire from God out of heaven will devour them. Now 
this host cannot be composed of glorified saints, 
these people are on probation, and many of them 
fail under the test. These are also people who have 
never suffered physical death, the Word says, '4t is 
appointed unto men once to die," if only once these 
having once suffered physical death could not be 
subject to it again. The same is true if the claim 
should be set up that these are a spiritual people 
who lived in sin while on earth but come back to 
make war again when Satan is loosed, but they 
would not be again subject to this death, and fur- 
thermore the Word says distinctly that they were 
gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and 
not from some spirit land or confines of evil. 

Then where do these people originate? Mr. 
Seiss seems to take the ground that the earth is not 
entirely depopulated under the last destruction of 
the wicked, he says, "The population of the world 
will have been greatly thinned down by the various 



134 THE WORLD WAR 

judgments, removals, and plagues which precede 
the millennium." The only change then — ^accord- 
ing to Mr. Seiss — ^that this remnant would undergo, 
would be the adaptation of their lives and methods 
to the age they then live in and the laws under 
which they would serve and be governed. 

If there is, or may be, a hidden remnant in the 
wilderness — ^practically out of the world — ^who have 
not been destroyed by the Antichrist, or by God's 
judgments on the wicked, this would provide a scant 
population for the millennium age, who being free 
from temptation by the devil and his horde, ruled 
over by Christ with a rod of iron — strict righteous- 
ness — with sickness and sin removed and with the 
most favorable conditions of life obtaining, all 
these things would promote longevity of the race 
and the earth would be speedily repopulated and 
very prosperous. 

Such people would be left in innocence, untest- 
ed ; and to take their place among those who God had 
chosen from the antidiluvian, the Israelitish, or the 
church age, to stand with Christ in his kingdom 
forever, they would need to be tested and tried, 
which — whoever they are — ^we see God proposes to 
do. This is the strongest, and most valid reason 
that we can see, why such a being as Satan should 
again be let loose. 

We are not trying to fix up a theory or to estab- 
lish a doctrine; we confess that the matter is very 
deep for us, and as the Word of God has treated 
it so briefly, it is evident that we do not need to 



THE WORLD M^AR 135 

know all the mysteries of this millennium age. 
What the antediluvians needed was to listen to 
Noah's message and prepare to escape the flood, 
what the inhabitants of Sodom needed was to heed 
Lot's warning and get out of Sodom, it was a mat- 
ter of secondary importance for them to have known 
all about the mysteries of this present dispensation ; 
and what men need today is to prepare, watch and 
pray, for in such a day as you think not the Son 
of man cometh. 

It isn't a matter of necessity for us to under- 
stand all the mysteries of the millennial period, but 
it is a matter of transcendent importance that we 
understand the times that we live in and that we are 
prepared for the day of visitation. 

In reading this book therefore, we trust that 
you have seen the handwriting on the wall ; we hope 
you have caught the vision of the times we now live 
in, and if you have done so, it seems a waste of 
words for us exhort you any farther to make all 
preparation to meet God, for the time is at hand. 

The End 



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